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MIAMI  UNIVERSITY  BULLETIN 

Series  XI,  No  . 8 April,  J 9 I 3 


A Rural  Survey  in 
Southwestern  Ohio 

BY 

PAUL  L.  VOGT,  PH.  D. 


OXFORD,  OHIO 


•V 


Miami  University  Bulletin 

Published  monthly  by  the  University.  Entered  at 
the  post  office  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  as  second-class  mail 
matter,  under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  July  16,  1894* 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/ruralsurveyinsouOOvogt 


A Rural  Survey  in 
Southwestern  Ohio 


BY 

PAUL  L.  VOGT,  PH.  D. 

Professor  of  Sociology,  Miami  University 


Oxford,  Ohio 
Published  by  the  University 

April,  J9J3 


PREFACE 


The  discussion  of  rural  social  conditions  included  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages  is  the  result  of  the  co-operation  of  Miami  University 
with  other  educational  and  religious  agencies  of  the  State  of  Ohio 
in  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Survey.  This  survey  was  carried  on  under 
the  direction  of  the  Department  of  Church  and  Country  Life  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  during  the  year  1912,  twenty-one  coun- 
ties in  the  state  being  visited  during  that  time.  The  present  dis- 
cussion presents  the  results  of  the  survey  of  Darke,  Montgomery, 
Preble  and  Butler  Counties  in  Southwestern  Ohio. 

Among  those  to  whom  credit  is  due  for  the  collection  of 
material  and  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  discussion  are: 
the  field  workers  and  office  assistants  of  the  Department  of  Church 
and  Country  Life  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  who  furnished  the 
schedule,  took  part  in  the  field  investigations  and  did  the  major 
part  of  the  tabulation  of  results;  J.  B.  Glick,  Field  Survey  Agent 
of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  who  made  the  survey  of  Darke 
County  and  assisted  in  compiling  results;  W.  B.  Holliday,  Secre- 
tary County  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Montgomery  County,  who  contributed 
the  use  of  material  collected  during  the  survey  of  his  field  of  work; 
E.  E.  Schwarztrauber,  a graduate  of  Miami  University,  who  assisted 
in  the  field  work.  The  data  as  to  farm  incomes  was  collected  by 
J.  V.  Ankeney,  C.  E.  Miller,  Orville  Powers, and  W.  E.  Steiner, 
Senior  students  at  Miami  University,  as  a part  of  their  work  in 
a seminar  course  in  statistics.  The  writer  wishes  to  express  his 
thanks  to  the  farmers,  ministers,  teachers,  public  officials  and 
others  who  by  furnishing  information  have  assisted  in  this  effort  to 
obtain  an  adequate  basis  in  knowledge  for  the  improvement  of  rural 
social  life. 

Paul  L.  Vogt. 

Miami  University. 

Oxford,  Ohio,  1913. 

3 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I Introduction 

Page 

1 Origin  and  Purpose  of  the  Survey 9 

2 Scope  of  the  Discussion io 

3 Method  of  the  Survey io 

CHAPTER  II  Economic  Conditions 

1 Topography  12 

2 Climatic  Conditions 12 

3 Principal  Products 13 

4 Tendencies  in  Size  of  Farms  14 

5 Changes  in  Value  of  Land  and  Equipment 14 

6 Farm  Incomes 16 

7 Transportaion  Facilities 17 

8 Markets 18 

CHAPTER  III  Social  Conditions,  General 

1 Origin  of  Population  19 

2 Movements  of  Population  in  Cities,  Villages,  and 

Rural  Districts  Compared 21 

3 Density 23 

4 Health 24 

5 Dependency  and  Defectiveness  25 

6 Morality 27 

7 Housing  Conditions  29 

8 Community  Leadership 30 

9 Lines  of  Social  Cleavage . . 31 


Page 

10  Influences  Tending  to  Lessen  Community  Life.  . . 33 

11  Influences  Operating  to  Revive  Community  Life. . . 35 

12  Places  of  Informal  Meetings 36 

13  County  and  Street  Fairs 38 

14  Family  Reunions 39 

15  Other  Social  Gatherings 40 

16  Farmers’  and  Fraternal  Organizations 41 

CHAPTER  IV  The  Church 

1 Changes  in  Membership 44 

2 Distribution  of  Membership  as  to  Age  and  Sex ....  45 

3 Denominations  Represented 48 

4 Location  of  Churches ...  50 

5 Residence  of  Pastors 50 

5 Sunday  Schools 51 

7 Church  Organizations  other  than  Sunday  Schools. . 54 

8 Advantages  of  “Town”  over  “Country”  Church.  . . 54 

6 Sectarianism  56 

10  Abandoned  Churches 59 

11  The  Social  Function  of  the  Churches  61 

CHAPTER  V Rural  Schools 

1 Illiteracy  in  Southwestern  Ohio 63 

2 Material  Equipment 64 

3 Preparation  of  Teachers 69 

4 Permanency  of  Teaching  Force 70 

5 Salaries 71 

6 Recitations  per  Day 71 

7 Rural  School  Recreation 73 

8 The  School  and  Community 76 

9 Secondary  Education 78 

10  Township  Supervision 80 

11  Recommendations  81 


6 


lO  vO 


Page 

CHAPTER  VI  Ownership  and  Tenantry 

1 Increase  in  Tenantry  in  Southwestern  Ohio 82 

2 Ages  of  Owners  and  Tenants 83 

3 Terms  of  Occupancy  of  Farm 84 

4 Size  of  Farms 86 

Church  and  Lodge  Membership 87 

Periodicals  Taken 89 

7 Dangers  of  Increase  in  Tenantry 90 

CHAPTER  VII  Conclusions 

1 Rural  Problems  91 

2 Tendencies  Toward  Better  Conditions 92 

3 Suggestions 93 


7 


MAP  OF  OHIO.  THE  COUNTIES  SURVEYED  ARE  INDICATED  BY  A STAR 

COUNTIES  DISCUSSED  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  PAGES. 


8 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 


Institutions  exist  only  to  bring  the  maximum  of  well-being  to 
those  for  whose  service  they  were  created.  When  an  institution 
Ceases  to  be  of  service  to  the  people,  but  one  of  two  things  should 
be  done,  either  destroy  it  or  reorganize  it  so  that  it  will  again 
become  a vital  force  in  the  life  of  the  community.  In  the  course 
of  years  conditions  change,  so  that  the  service  an  institution  is 
accustomed  to  offer  is  no  longer  adapted  to  the  demands  upon  it 
of  a new  environment,  and  the  result  is  that  it  is  either  abandoned 
or  retained  through  force  of  habit  as  a hindrance  to  true  prog- 
ress. The  service  offered  by  an  institution  must  be  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  the  community  if  it  hopes  to  continue  as  a useful  factor 
in  the  life  of  the  community. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  detail  in  the  discussion  of  the 
changes  which  have  brought  about  the  lack  of  adjustment  between 
the  needs  of  the  people  who  live  in  the  rural  districts  and  the  agen- 
cies intend  to  meet  those  needs.  Continuous  decrease  in  rural 
population,  abandonment  of  land  even  in  the  fertile  Mississippi 
Valley,  increase  in  tenantry,  rise  of  land  values  and  deterioration 
of  the  soil  owing  to  mining  methods  inherited  from  a pioneer  stage 
and  perpetuated  through  the  combined  influence  of  the  absentee 
landlord  and  the  short  term  tenant,  and  the  national  interest  in 
the  regeneration  of  country  life  because  of  the  vital  relation  of 
agriculture  as  a basic  industry  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  people 
all  demand  that  every  effort  be  made  to  hasten  a readjustment  that 
will  again  insure  contentment  and  permanent  prosperity  to  the 
rural  community. 

It  is  out  of  the  recognition  that  a changed  environment  has 
brought  new  burdens  to  the  institutions  of  the  rural  communities 
that  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Survey  has  grown.  Churches,  public 
schools  and  farmers’  organizations  were  planned  to  meet  condi- 
tions and  in  accordance  with  ideals  that  prevailed  in  a pioneer 
stage  of  society.  The  demands  of  the  twentieth  century  civilization 


9 


o 


Miami  University 


are  such  that  these  agencies  are  found  to  be  inadequate  and  the  call 
for  readjustments  becomes  increasingly  imperative.  Such  read- 
justments can  be  wisely  made  only  in  so  far  as  existing  conditions 
are  known ;only  as  it  is  understood  what  the  demands  of  the  present 
are  and  in  what  ways  inherited  institutions  fail  to  meet  these  de- 
mands. The  study  of  rural  communities  of  the  state  made 
during  the  year  1912  was  undertaken  in  the  belief  that  the  knowl- 
edge gained  would  help  those  who  wished  to  bring  the  school, 
the  church,  and  the  farmers’  organization  into  harmony  with 
new  demands.  Miami  University,  the  Ohio  Experiment  Station, 
Ohio  State  University,  Ohio  University,  the  Department  of 
Church  and  County  Life  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  several 
other  scholastic  and  religious  agencies  have  co-operated  in  making 
the  survey  and  in  getting  constructive  results  from  the  work  done. 
The  present  discussion  presents  conditions  in  Butler,  Preble, 
Montgomery  and  Darke  Counties,  which  are  typical  of  the  South- 
western part  of  the  state. 

In  conducting  the  field  work  of  the  investigation  two  sched- 
ules were  used.  The  one  was  intended  to  give  a general  view  of 
life  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  institution  concerned  in  serving 
the  people.  The  other  schedule  was  designed  for  more  intensive 
study  of  economic  conditions  in  their  relation  to  social  life  through 
information  secured  from  as  many  families  as  possible  in  typical 
areas.  While  the  point  of  approach  to  the  problem  was  different 
the  aim  of  each  schedule  was  the  same,  i.  e.  to  secure  the  fullest 
and  most  reliable  picture  of  conditions  existing  in  rural  commu- 
nities as  a basis  for  constructive  efforts  toward  read  justment  and 
improvement. 

The  field  work  was  done  by  men  who  were  prepared  by  train- 
ing and  experience  to  collect  data  as  to  conditions  of  living  in  the 
country.  Many  of  them  were  college  and  seminary  graduates 
who  entered  the  work  because  they  were  specially  interested  in 
problems  of  country  life.  The  data  secured  were  taken  from  the 
records  of  organized  groups  such  as  churches,  schools,  fraternal  or- 
ganizations and  from  public  records.  Where  it  was  impossible,  from 
the  nature  of  the  material,  to  secure  written  returns,  the  infor- 
mation was  gained  by  personal  conferences,  verified  by  further 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio  ii 

inquiry  from  other  members  of  the  community.  The  effort  was 
made  to  secure  the  highest  degree  of  accuracy  possible  and  to 
interpret  the  information  secured  in  the  fairest  possible  way.  If 
estimates  were  used,  these  were  carefully  noted  as  such  and  their 
probable  accuracy  weighed  in  making  use  of  them. 

The  field  work  in  Southwestern  Ohio  included  an  extensive 
survey  of  all  of  Butler  County,  thirteen  townships  in  Darke  and  ten 
townships  in  Montgomery  Counties  and  ah  intensive  or  house  to 
house  canvass  of  Oxford  Township  in  Butler  County,  and  Twin 
and  Jackson  Townships  in  Preble  County.  Owing  to  similarities 
in  conditions  in  these  counties  it  was  thought  that  through  an 
extensive  survey  of  the  three  counties  mentioned,  together  with 
intensive  studies  of  typical  townships  in  the  district,  a reliable 
picture  of  the  entire  district  would  be  obtained. 

The  four  counties  studied  have  an  approximate  area  of  1909 
square  miles.  The  areas  of  the  individual  counties  are  as  follows: 
Darke,  586  sq.  mi.;  Montgomery,  455;  Butler,  452;  and  Preble, 
416.  There  is  a total  of  59  townships.  Of  this  number  the  survey 
covered  38  townships,  or  64%  of  the  total  number.  Darke  and 
Preble  Counties  have  no  large  cities  within  their  limits;  in  the 
other  counties  studied  are  located  the  three  cities  of  Dayton, 
Middletown  and  Hamilton.  These  exert  some  influence  upon 
their  immediate  environment.  Cincinnati  also  influences  to  a 
certain  extent  the  southern  part  of  Butler  County. 

In  the  survey  no  unit  could  be  adopted  which  would  include 
all  the  interests  of  any  given  aggregation  of  people.  The  eco- 
nomic life  of  a community  may  center  around  a group  of  stores 
in  a country  village.  At  the  same  time  the  political  life  of  the 
community  may  be  divided  among  townships,  counties  or  even 
states  or  any  combination  of  these.  Further,  the  religious  com- 
munity may  not  be  coterminous  with  any  of  the  other  units  and 
any  one  of  these  may  be  more  far-reaching  in  its  influence  than 
distance,  race,  property-ownership,  relationship,  or  similar  factor. 
The  political  unit  as  represented  by  the  township  and  the  county 
wras  finally  chosen  as  being  the  most  satisfactory  for  the  purposes 
of  the  survey. 


CHAPTER  II 
Economic  Conditions 

The  general  topography  and  soil  conditions  of  the  section 
vary  considerably.  A large  part  of  Darke,  Preble,  and  Mont- 
gomery Counties  is  quite  level.  Butler  County  and  the  southern 
parts  of  Preble  County  and  Montgomery  County  on  the  other  hand 
are  more  irregular  owing  to  their  closer  proximity  to  the  Ohio 
River.  The  northern  part  of  the  district  falls  into  a division  of 
the  state  described  by  the  United  States  Census  as  “an  elevated 
rolling  plateau  which  has  been  heavily  glaciated,  and  whose  sur- 
face soils  are  derived  directly  from  the  glacial  till.”  The  section 
has  “black,  mucky  soils,  or  dark  colored  loams  which  are  found 
in  the  depressions  and  upon  the  more  level  tracts.”  In  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  district  the  soils  “are  derived  principally  from 
a thin  covering  of  loess  overlying  both  the  glacial  till  and  the 
consolidated  rock  of  the  region,  and  are  brown  to  yellow,  silty 
loams,  not  remarkable  for  their  fertility.” 

Climate  conditions  in  this  section  are  favorable  to  agriculture. 
Practically  all  of  the  four  counties  except  the  northern  half  of 
Darke  County  lie  between  the  isotherms  510  and  540  F.*  The 
average  dates  of  the  last  killing  frosts  in  spring  for  most  of  But- 
ler County,  practically  all  of  Montgomery,  and  parts  of  Darke  and 
Preble  are  not  later  than  April  30,  and  for  a large  part  of  Preble 
and  Darke  Counties  not  later  than  May  5.  These  dates  are 
favorable  for  the  planting  of  early  corn  and  of  vegetables.  The 
dates  of  killing  frosts  in  Butler  and  Montgomery  Counties  com- 
pare favorably  with  the  record  in  the  nothern  part  of  the  state 
where  the  temperature  is  influenced  by  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  where  the  fruit  industry  has  been  highly  developed. 

The  dates  of  average  earliest  killing  frosts  in  autumn  have  a 
relation  to  the  maturing  of  corn  and  tobacco.  The  average  date 
for  the  first  killing  frost  in  the  upper  half  of  Darke  County  is 

♦Ohio  Experiment  Station  BuJ.  235,  p.  197. 


12 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


13 


October  10;  for  Preble  County,  the  western  half  of  Montgomery 
and  the  northern  third  of  Butler  is  not  earlier  than  October  15; 
and  for  a large  part  of  the  remainder  of  the  county  it  is  not 
earlier  than  October  20.  Again,  the  date  of  killing  frost  in  the 
autumn  compares  favorably  with  that  of  the  fruit  districts  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  state. 

The  average  number  of  days  in  the  crop  growing  season 
varies  between  160  and  170.  This  compares  favorably  with  other 
sections  of  the  state,  in  some  of  which  the  average  is  as  low  as 
140.  In  the  river  counties  the  average  is  higher,  running  in 
some  places  as  high  as  190  but  other  factors  tend  to  lessen  the 
value  of  these  counties  as  agricultural  producers.  The  precipita- 
tion for  all  of  Butler  County,  a large  part  of  Preble  and  for  the 
southern  portion  of  Montgomery  is  between  38  and  40  inches. 
This  is  about  the  average  for  the  entire  state.  All  of  Darke 
County,  about  three-fourths  of  Montgomery  and  a small  portion 
of  Preble  have  a rainfall  of  between  .36  aud  38  inches,  or  some- 
what less  than  that  for  Butler  and  the  other  parts  mentioned. 

The  four  counties  mentioned  are  above  the  average  for  the 
state  in  the  production  of  corn  per  acre,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  Montgomery  County,  are  above  the  average  in  production  of 
hay  and  forage.  Only  Darke  County  exceeded  average  acerage 
production  in  pounds  of  tobacco  for  the  state  in  1909.  The 
yield  of  oats  and  wheat  per  acre  for  each  county  is  below  the 
average  for  the  state.  Butler  County  produces  relatively  a 
smaller  amount  of  tobacco  than  the  others, but  ranks  second  in  the 
amount  produced  per  acre.  In  the  production  of  live  stock,  with 
the  exception  of  Butler  and  Preble  Counties,  in  the  production  of 
hogs,  and  in  the  production  of  cattle,  the  section  falls  below  the 
average  for  the  state. 


14 


Miami  University 


The  tendency  in  size  of  farms  is  shown  by  the  following  table: 

TABLE  I. 


Size  of  Farms,  1910  and  1900 — Southwest  Section.* 


Size  of  Farms 

Acres 

Number  of  Farms 

1910 

1900 

2 and  under 

58 

266 

3 10  9 

1732 

148b 

10  to  19 

1386 

1833 

20  to  49 

3543 

3521 

50  to  99 

5422 

4400 

1 00  to  1 74 

3387 

2770 

175  to  259 

694 

623 

260  to  499 

183 

201 

500  to  599 

6 

9 

1000  and  over 

0 

3 

The  tendency  in  the  district  at  large  is  toward  the  medium 
sized  farm  ranging  from  50  to  175  A.  The  greatest  increase  was 
in  farms  between  50  and  99  A.  in  size.  Local  conditions  vary 
from  these  statistics.  Butler  County  and  Montgomery  County 
shows  an  increase  in  3-9  A.  plots.  Butler  County  also  shows  a 
decrease  in  farms  of  50  to  175  A.  and  an  increase  in  farms  of  175  A. 
and  above.  With  the  exception  of  Butler  County  the  average 
number  of  acres  per  farm  decreased  in  the  past  decade. 

The  gradual  improvement  in  agriculture  is  indicated  by 
statistics  of  investment.  Land  values  almost  doubled  during 
the  past  decade,  yet  the  relative  value  of  land  as  compared  with 
buildings,  machinery,  etc.,  has,  with  the  exception  of  Darke 
County,  decreased.  These  figures  indicate  that  many  improve- 
ments in  buildings  and  machinery  were  made  during  the  period. 

TABLE  II 


Distribution  of  Investment,  Farm  Property  1900  and  1910. 


Per  Cent,  of  Value  of 

Butler 

Darke  j Montgomery 

Preble 

all  Property  in 

1910  1900 

1910  1900  1910  1900 

1910  1900 

Land 

68.3  72.06 

71.0  69.80  66.0  67.32 

67.7  69.24 

Buildings 

20.6  17.28 

18.2  17.77  23.7  21.84 

19.7  17.60 

Machinery 

2-5 

2-54 

2.6  3.89  2.8  3.44 

2.8 

3-34 

Domestic  Animals, 
Poultry,  Bees 

8.6 

8.12 

8.2  S.54:  7.5  7.40 

9.8 

9.82 

♦This  term  will  be  used  to  include  Butler,  Darke,  Montgomery  and  Preble  Counties 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


The  mortgage  situation  indicates  the  same  tendency.  In  all 
four  counties  the  rat:o  of  the  amount  of  the  mortgage  to  the 
value  of  the  land  and  buildings  decreased  absolutely,  from  1890 
to  1910.  In  Darke  and  Butler  Counties  both  the  total  number 
of  farms  reporting  mortgages  and  the  amount  of  the  mortgage 
debt  has  decreased  while  in  Preble  and  Montgomery  Counties 
these  items  have  increased.  The  ratio  of  the  mortgage  co  the 
value  of  the  plant  however,  is  the  important  figure  and  as  has 
been  shown  in  every  case  the  mortgage  burden  has  decreased. 
The  data  from  1890  and  1910  are  not  exactly  comparable  because 
in  one  case  they  refer  to  families  and  in  the  other  to  farms  but  the 
discrepancy  is  not  sufficient  to  invalidate  the  evidence  as  to  a 
general  tendency. 

EIGHTEEN  TYPICAL  FARMS  BUTLER  COUNTY 


m r b 2 


Twenty-one  twenty-ninths  of  value  of  all  sales  repre.-ent 
live  stock. 


i6 


Miami  University 


During  the  year  1912-1913  four  students  of  Agricultural 
Education  and  of  Sociology  at  Miami  University  made  an  inten- 
sive study  of  incomes  of  eighteen  farmers  in  Oxford,  Milford  and 
Riley  Townships,  Butler  County.  The  schedules  used  were 
identical  with  those  used  by  the  State  Experiment  Station  and 
the  United  State  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  farms  studied 
were  among  the  best  in  the  district  and  consequently  cannot  be 
considered  as  average  but  as  representative  of  maximum  income 
with  a given  plant.  The  men  interviewed  gave  the  fullest 
co-operation  in  the  study  and  the  results  obtained  represent  the 
most  accurate  results  possible  from  persons  working  under  most 
favorable  conditions.  The  following  table  presents  a summary 
of  labor  incomes  of  farmers  after  interest  on  capital  invested, 
labor  and  other  expenses  have  been  deducted.  The  total  i ncludes 
the  element  of  profit  as  a part  of  the  labor  income. 

TABLE  II 

LABOR  INCOME  OF  FARM  OPERATORS 


16  Farmers 

Oxford,  Riley,  and  Milford  Townships,  Butler  County,  Ohio. 


LABOR 

INCOME 

NUMBER  OF 

FARMS 

$ 1 to  $ 249 

3 

250  to  499 

2 

500  to  999 

3 

1000  to  J499 

6 

1500  and  above 

2 

These  totals  run  considerably  higher  than  totals  from  inves- 
tigations in  other  fields.  The  distribution  of  the  farms  as  to 
value  of  plant  will  throw  light  on  the  capital  basis  for  these 
results. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


i 7 


TABLE  III 
VALUE  OF  PLANT 
18  Farms  Butler  County,  Ohio: 


CAPITAL 

invested 

NUMBER  OF 

FARMS 

Less  than  $ 5000 

2 

$ 5000  to  9999 

2 

10000  to  14999 

3 

15000  to  19999 

5 

20000  tO  24999 

2 

25000  to  29999 

2 

30000  to  39999 

2 

Southwestern  Ohio  is  fairly  well  supplied  with  railway 
transportation  facilities.  The  northern  part  of  Butler  County 
is  traversed  by  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  and  the  Cincinnati,  Ham- 
ilton and  Indianapolis  R.  R.,  the  southwestern  part  by  the 
Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railway,  while  the  eastern  part  of  the  county 
is  reached  by  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton,  and  Dayton,  the  Cleve- 
land, Chicago,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  the  Pennsylvania  and 
the  interurban  lines  of  the  Ohio  Electric  Railway.  Thus 
transportation  facilities  are  available  to  within  four  or  five 
miles  of  almost  any  part  of  the  county.  The  other  counties  are 
better  equipped  with  railway  and  traction  facilities  than  Butler 
Count>L 

The  wagon  roads  in  all  the  counties  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  state  are  well  improved.  According  to  the  records  of 
the  State  Highway  Commission  the  proportion  of  improved 
roads  in  Butler,  Preble  and  Darke  Counties  for  the  year  1910 
was  as  follows: 

Table  IV 


Road  Improvement 


County 

Total  Miles 

Brick 

Stone 

Gravel 

Per  cent. 
Improved 

Butler 

933 

1 

82 

738  _ 

93-35 

Preble 

93i 

0 

44 

585 

67-56 

Darke 

1257 

0 

16 

744 

60.46 

Montgomery..  .. 

1064 

0 

60 

938 

93.80 

Butler  and  Montgomery  Counties  have  done  much  more  in 
the  way  of  improving  roads  than  have  the  other  counties  under 
consideration. 


i8 


Miami  University 


Butler  County  is  also  fortunate  in  the  plan  of  wagon  roads. 
Instead  of  all  roads  being  laid  out  on  section  lines  as  in  certain 
other  parts  of  the  country,  they  run  diagonally  from  the  principal 
shipping  points  thus  saving  distance  and  adding  to  the  convenience 
of  travel.  The  principal  difficulty  of  wagon  transportation  is  the 
hilly  topography  of  the  country.  The  investigation  brought  out 
the  fact  that  in  a number  of  cases  the  farmers  preferred  hauling 
their  grain  and  other  produce  directly  to  the  central  market  to 
selling  it  at  the  way  stations  of  the  railroads.  From  the  southern 
part  of  the  county  some  of  the  farmers  haul  grain  and  live  stock 
directly  to  Cincinnati,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  away.  Stock  ship- 
pers from  Milford  Township  in  the  northern  part  of  Butler  County 
deliver  directly  to  the  Cincinnati  market.  Oxford  Township  sells 
largely  to  local  buyers.  From  many  parts  of  the  section  milk  is 
shipped  to  creameries  located  in  Indiana.  For  a large  part  of 
Butler  County  the  only  market  for  perishable  products  is  the  local 
grocery.  The  same  is  true  of  Darke  and  Preble  Counties.  Owing 
to  the  development  of  traction  lines  the  farmers  of  Montgomery 
county  have  excellent  facilities  for  selling  their  produce  on  the 
Dayton  market,  which  also  becomes  the  selling  point  for  many 
farmers  who  cannot  take  advantage  of  the  traction  lines.  One 
lady  is  reported  who  lived  “3^  miles  from  a traction  line  and  12 
miles  from  Dayton”  and  who  “sold  $900.00  worth  of  produce  on 
the  Dayton  market  last  year  over  and  above  travelling  expenses.  ” 
Many  farmers  drive  to  Dayton  three  times  a tveek,  some  of  them 
for  distances  of  14  or  15  miles  to  dispose  of  their  produce. 

Tobacco  raising  is  the  only  important  type  of  specialized  farm- 
ing in  the  section.  The  problem  of  marketing  the  tobacco 
crop  has  not  yet  been  worked  out  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the 
producers.  Beginnings  have  been  made  in  the  effort  to  sell  the 
crop  on  a co-operative  basis. 

The  great  majority  of  families  in  southwestern  Ohio  have  free 
mail  delivery.  The  extension  of  the  use  of  the  telephone  has  also 
been  very  rapid  in  the  past  few  years.  In  some  of  the  townships 
as  high  as  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  families  have  telephone  service. 
I11  none  of  the  townships  does  the  service  fall  below  fifty  per  cent. 


CHAPTER  III 


Social  Conditions,  General 

The  origin  of  the  population  in  these  counties  is  widely  dis- 
tributed. The  early  settlers  came  principally  from  the  older  col- 
onies east  of  the  mountains.  Pennsylvania  sent  the  largest  pro- 
portion into  all  the  counties,  but  many  families  came  from  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  and  Virginia.  The  section  also  received  its 
share  of  the  German  migration  of  the  thirties  and  of  the  Irish  im- 
migration of  the  middle  of  the  past  century.  In  recent  years  such 
movement  into  the  section  as  has  occurred  has  been  into  the  towns 
rather  than  into  the  country  districts.  According  to  the  census 
records  the  present  population  of  the  section  is  largely  of  native 
birth.  The  statistics  of  the  four  counties  under  consideration 
for  the  period  1880  to  1910  are  as  follows: 


Table  V 

Population  as  to  Nativity 


Native  Born  Foreign  Born 


County 

1880 

1910* 

Per  cent. 

Increase 

1880 

1910 

Per  cent. 

Decrease 

Butler 

36636 

64482 

76 . 0 

5943 

5778 

27.  s 

Darke 

38556 

41912 

8.7 

1940 

T021 

47-4 

Montgomery.... 

66253 

147200 

122.0 

12297 

^6534 

+34-5 

Preble 

23506 

23363 

—0.7 

1027 

47i 

54-  1 

•Nefjro  population  considered  as  Native  horn. 

While  each  county  has  had  an  absolute  increase  in  popula' 
tion,  with  the  exception  of  Montgomery  County  the  number  of 
foreign  born  has  absolutely  decreased. 

The  data  as  to  the  number  of  colored  people,  indicate 
their  relatively  small  importance  in  the  country  districts. 


19 


20 


Miami  University 


Table  VI 


Population  as  to  Race 


White 

Colored 

County 

1880 

1910 

Per  cent 
Increase 

1 

I 1880 

1910 

Per  cent 
Increase 

Butler 

4H35 

68479 

65-3 

1 

1140 

1781 

56.2 

Darke  

399 1 7 

42557 

6.6 

579 

376 

—35  1 

Montgomery. 
Preble 

77234 

158253 

104.9 

1310 

1 548i 

318  4 

24051 

23569 

— 2.0 

482 

265 

—45-0 

This  table  shows  that  in  the  rural  counties  there  has  been 
an  absolute  decrease  in  the  colored  population.  The  only 
marked  increase  has  been  in  Montgomery  County  where  the 
colored  population  has  been  increasing  at  a more  rapid  ratio 
than  the  white  population.  In  Butler  County  while  there  has 
been  an  absolute  increase  in  colored  population,  the  relative  in- 
crease has  not  been  so  rapid  as  that  of  the  whites. 

That  the  colored  population  is  to  be  found  principally  in  the 
larger  centres  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  1910,  4,842  of  the 
5,481  colored  people  in  Montgomery  County  wyere  living  in  the 
city  of  Dayton ;in  Butler  County  1 , 130  of  the  1,781  were  located  in 
Hamilton  and  Middletown  and  probably  three  hundred  more  in 
the  village  of  Oxford.  According  to  the  report  of  the  United 
States  census  1910  there  were  16  colored  farmers  in  Butler  County. 
The  village  of  Eaton  had  60  out  of  the  total  of  265  in  Preble 
County;  and  Greenville  38  out  of  a total  of  376  in  Darke  County. 
Darke  County  appears  to  have  the  colored  population  scattered 
over  a larger  territory  than  the  other  counties  under  consideration. 

All  these  counties  have  a very  large  proportion  of  the  pop- 
ulation consisting  of  descendants  of  settlers  from  the  older  col- 
onies or  of  the  older  immigration.  The  foreign  immigration  and 
the  colored  population  is  to  be  found  in  the  cities  rather  than  in 
the  country  districts.  The  rural  communities  present  a homo- 
geneity of  race  interests  training  and  ideals  that  should  serve 
as  the  basis  of  healthy  development  of  social  life. 

A comparison  of  changes  in  population  in  the  decades  begin- 
ning with  1870  and  the  following  show  that  the  movements 
which  have  attracted  such  wides-pread  attention  during  the  past 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio  2r 

decade  began  as  far  back  as  j88o.  A comparison  of  the  rural 
population  of  that  year  with  the  figures  for  the  previous  de- 
cade indicates  that  in  most  parts  of  the  district  the  country 
districts  were  still  increasing  in  population.  During  the  8o’s, 
however,  many  of  the  townships  showed  a rapid  decrease,  and  in 
this  part  of  the  state  the  maximum  rate  of  decrease  occurred 
during  the  decade  beginning  with  1880. 

From  1880  to  1890  every  township  of  Butler  County  for 
which  the  figures  are  comparable,  lost  in  population  from  134  to 
365;  with  the  exception  of  two  townships  Preble  County  shows 
the  same  tendency;  only  one  township  gained  in  population  in 
Darke  County  and  but  two  townships  in  Montgomery  County. 
In  the  last  decade,  19001910,  one  of  the  townships  in  Butler 
County,  three  in  Preble,  six  in  Darke  and  three  in  Montgomery 
show  an  increase. 

The  record  of  the  decade  1870-1880  indicates  that  the  general 
movement  towards  decrease  had  not  yet  begun  to  make  its 
appearance  except  in  a few  instances.  The  slower  rate  of  decrease 
of  the  later  decades  indicates  that  the  rural  population  is  gradu- 
ally adjusting  itself  to  the  changed  conditions  and  that  any 
policies  of  social  reconstruction  which  may  be  introduced  wall 
find  a more  permanent  period  of  adaptability  to  those  conditions. 

The  effect  of  depopulation  of  the  rural  district  on  the 
country  village  is  shown  by  the  following  table. 

TABLE  VII 

Increase  of  population  for  28  villages  for  which  continuous  record  is  given 
United  States  Census  1880-1910  and  for  the  three  cities  Middletown,  Hamilton 
and  Dayton  for  the  same  period. 


POPULATION 


Villages  and  Cities 

1880 

1910 

Increase 

Number 

Per  cent 

1 . Total  28  villages 

23825 

1 

32306 

8481 

35  6 

(21  villages  less  than  1000  popula- 

te tion  1880 

9187 

9797 

610 

6.6 

f 8 villages  having  over  1000  popu- 
3 • \ lation  1880 

14638 

22509 

7871 

53-7 

4.  Middletown,  Butler  Co.,  O 

4538 

13152 

8614 

189.  c 

5.  Hamilton,  Butler  Co.,  O 

12122 

35279 

23157 

192.0 

6.  Dayton,  Montgomery  Co.,  O. . . 

38678 

116577 

77899 

201.0 

22 


Miami  University 


With  the  exception  of  Montgomery  County  the  total  rural 
population  during  the  same  period  has  absolutely  decreased. 
There  appears  to  be  a law  that  the  community  increases  or 
decreases  in  population  in  proportion  to  its  initial  density. 

THE  LARGER  THE  TOWN  THE  FASTER 
IT  GROWS.  OPEN  COUNTRY  LOSING 
POPULATION.  CHANGES  IN 
POPULATION  1880-1910 


1680  1910 


1680  1910 


I860  1910 


p: 

Hi 


Hi 

% 


I860  1910 


CITIES 

VILLAGES  WITH  OVER  1000  POPULATION  IN  1880 
C VILLAGES  WITH  UNDER  1000  POPULATION  IM  I860 
COUNTRY  DISTRICTS 


The  records  of  the  census  show  that  in  general  the  country 
village  has  just  about  held  its  own  in  population.  The  census 
for  1870  records  a number  of  small  villages  which  are  not  men- 
tioned in  the  later  census  reports.  Those  villages  which  are 
situated  away  from  means  of  steam  or  electric  railway  communi- 
cation have  not  generally  grown  rapidly.  Villages  having 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


23 


the  advantages  of  railway  or  electric  line  communication  have  in 
many  instances  had  a vigorous  growth.  Illustrations  of  this 
influence  are  to  be  found  in  the  villages  Bradford  and  Union  in 
Darke  County,  West  Alexandria  in  Preble  County,  Brookville 
and  Miamisburg  and  West  Carrolton  in  Montgomery  Count}". 
It  is  important  to  notice  that  in  the  last  census  a number  of  new 
villages  are  first  recorded.  This  change  may  be  indicative  of  a 
tendency  toward  a renewal  of  the  village  as  a phase  of  rural  life. 

The  testimony  of  the  people  remaining  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts is  that  those  who  have  left  have  been  attracted  in  the 
majority  of  cases  to  the  neighboring  cities.  The  rapid  develop- 
ment of  manufacturing  interests  has  had  much  to  do  with  the 
movement  of  people  from  the  country  districts  into  these  towns. 
The  fact  that  the  increase  of  foreign  population  has  been  so  small 
in  these  counties  is  further  evidence  that  a large  part  of  their 
increase  has  come  from  the  surrounding  rural  districts.  In  many 
cases,  however,  the  farmers  have  left  the  country  to  try  their  for- 
tunes in  the  opening,  more  attractive  farming  territory  of  the 
northwestern  United  States  or  of  southern  Canada.  This  western 
movement  will  probably  not  be  of  increasing  importance  in  the 
future  and  further  drains  on  rural  population  must  be  in  the 
direction  of  the  cities  rather  than  to  other  farming  districts. 

The  majority  of  the  few  families  that  have  moved  into  the 
rural  districts  have  come  from  neighboring  counties  in  the  State 
of  Ohio  or  of  Indiana.  A number  of  families  from  Kentucky 
have  moved  into  the  the  townships  in  the  southern  and  south- 
western part  of  Butler  County.  A number  of  Polish,  Slavonians, 
Hungarians  and  Italians  are  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
larger  cities. 

Table  8 shows  the  density  of  population  in  the  counties  under 
consideration. 

TABLE  VIII 

Density  of  Population  in  Rural  Communities,  1910. 

County  Density  per  square  mile 

State 516 

Butler 48.3 

Darke 59.9 

Montgomery 94.3 

Preble 49.6 


24 


Miami  University 


Butler  and  Preble  Counties  are  both  below  the  average  density 
while  Darke  and  Montgomery  Counties  are  considerably  above 
the  average.  For  some  time  to  come,  distance  evidently  will  con- 
tinue to  be  a factor  in  the  social  life  of  the  country. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  more  important  causes  of 
death  in  the  rural  districts. 


TABLE  IX 

Number  of  Deaths,  Principal  Causes  of  Death,  Township  Districts,  1909.* 


* Report  State  Bureau  of  Vital  Statistics,  1909. 

The  country  districts  are  especially  afflicted  with  tuberculosis 
and  pneumonia.  Exposure  and  housing  conditions  have  much  to 
do  with  this  high  rate.  The  death  rate  from  typhoid  fever  is  not 
high.  That  the  vitality  of  country  people  is  at  a high  standard 
is  shown  by  the  age  distribution  of  deaths  in  township  districts. 

TABLE  X 


Deaths  according  to  age  groups  Butler  County,  Calendar  year  1911* 


Age  group 

No. 

Per  cent. 

Total 

235 

100.00 

Under  1 

56 

23 . 80 

i-4 

JO 

4 . 26 

5-14 

6 

2-59 

15-59 

62 

26.38 

60-79 

76 

32.34 

80  or  above 

25 

10.63 

•Compiled  from  records  of  State  Bureau  of  Vital  Statistics. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


25 


The  vitality  of  the  rural  population  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  of  the  total  deaths  recorded  for  the  year  191 1,  42.97  percent, 
were  60  years  of  age  and  over,  and  of  these,  six  were  past  ninety 
years  of  age.  In  this  total  is  not  included  the  deaths  occurring 
at  the  county  infirmary,  where  out  of  13  deaths  2 were  past  90,  3 
between  80  and  90,  3 between  70  and  80  and  2 between  60  and  70. 
The  others  were  between  40  and  50  with  the  exception  of  one 
child  2 years  of  age.  The  records  from  the  infirmary  were  not 
included  because  the  population  of  the  institution  comes  both 
from  the  city  and  from  the  rural  communities. 

The  data  for  Darke  County  furnishes  further  evidence  of  the 
vitality  of  the  rural  population.  In  the  13  townships  studied  in 
that  county  there  were  122  persons  over  80  years  of  age  and  a much 
larger  number  between  70  and  80  years. 

Outside  of  the  larger  cities  no  special  provision  is  made  for 
care  of  the  sick.  These  are  cared  for  in  their  homes.  The  country 
people,  however,  do  not  find  the  problem  of  securing  medical 
attendance  the  serious  one  it  once  was  in  days  when  the  only  means 
of  transportation  was  by  wagon  and  when  if  the  services  of  the 
physician  were  demanded  it  was  first  necessary  to  drive  to  the 
neighboring  village  to  seek  for  aid.  At  the  present  time  the 
telephone  and  the  automobile  place  the  services  of  competent 
physicians  within  twenty  minutes’  to  a half  hour’s  call  from  the 
country  home.  This  advantage  has  removed  one  of  the  once 
serious  objections  to  living  in  the  country.  People  living  in  the 
country  generally  prefer  caring  for  their  sick  in  their  own  homes 
to  having  them  removed  to  some  distant  hospital.  I11  many 
instances  a prejudice  exists  among  them  against  the  hospitals. 
This  is  shown  by  the  feeling  that  hospital  treatment  is  not  to  be 
compared  to  that  given  by  members  of  one’s  own  family. 

The  rural  communities  have  very  few  people  who  are  in  actual 
want.  Typical  cases  of  pathological  conditions  are  as  follows:  I11 
one  instance,  within  sight  of  a village  lives  a family  composed  of 
father, mother,  and  four  children  ranging  in  age  from  5 to  14  years. 
The  father  is  afflicted  with  locomotor  ataxia,  is  47  years  of  age, 
and  is  unable  to  do  any  work.  The  family  lives  in  a shack  about 
18  by  18  with  one  room  on  the  ground  floor  and  one  room  above. 


26 


Miami  University 


A small  shed  is  attached  to  the  rear  for  a kitchen.  The  mother 
helps  to  support  the  family  by  taking  in  washing  and  by  going 
out  to  work.  The  boy,  now  14  years  of  age,  is  able  to  assist  by 
farming  the  acre  garden.  The  family  is  in  constant  danger 
of  becoming  a public  charge  and  the  surroundings  of  the  home 
are  not  suitable  for  the  care  of  a growing  family  according  to  the 
present  standards  of  living. 

Another  case  is  that  of  “two  old  people,  a brother  and  sister, 
the  former  82  years  of  age  and  the  latter  70.  The  brother  lives 
in  a small  house  by  himself  and  does  his  own  housekeeping  while 
his  sister,  who  is  feebleminded,  lives  in  a small  eight  by  ten  sepa- 
rate building  in  the  yard.  In  her  little  room  are  a bed,  table, 
stove  and  chair  and  such  cooking  utensils  as  are  necessary  to 
supply  her  simple  wants.”  Still  another  case  is  that  of  a “family 
of  four  who  are  living  in  a tumble  down  house  said  by  the  inves- 
tigator to  be  equal  to  the  worst  to  be  found  in  the  cities.  One 
of  the  sons,  now  a grown  man,  is  insane  and  the  other  is  feeble- 
minded. The  father  is  now  81  years  old.  The  wife  of  the  second 
son  is  filthy  and  dirty  in  appearance.”  In  another  instance  “an 
old  Irishman  and  his  wife  live  in  a little  two  roomed  log  house 
which  has  long  since  sunk  its  foundation  deep  into  the  ground. 
Both  are  in  dotage  and  are  simply  existing  awaiting  the  inevitable 
end.  They  are  being  supported  by  a son,  single,  who  works  out 
by  the  month.”  These  are  but  a few  of  the  conditions  found  in 
the  country  districts.  Generally  poverty  affects  the  aged  and 
generally  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  log  house  remains  of  a pioneer 
civilization.  It  is  a question  whether  conditions  such  as  these 
should  be  permitted  to  continue  simply  because  the  neighbors  are 
ignorant  or  indifferent  or  because  the  cases  in  any  one  community 
are  too  few  to  attract  public  attention.  Some  county  agency 
should  be  responsible  for  the  care  of  these  cases  and  should  have 
the  power  to  prevent  violations  of  decent  community  standards. 

In  Preble  and  Butler  Counties  data  as  to  marriage  age  were 
obtained  for  the  entire  county,  including  the  cities.  The 
average  age  of  marriage  for  males  is  about  24  while  that  for  women 
is  21.  These  figures  correspond  with  dates  as  to  age  of  mothers 
published  by  the  State  Bureau  of  Vital  Statistics.  In  Butler 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


27 


County,  of  1400  births  registered  in  1909,  9 were  born  to  mothers 
under  17  years  of  age  and  222  to  mothers  under  21  years  of  age. 
In  Darke  County  of  1032  births,  but  4 were  to  mothers  under  17 
and  152  to  mothers  under  21;  in  Preble  County  436  births  were 
recorded,  8 to  mothers  under  17,  and  82  to  mothers  under  2 1 . 
There  is  no  evidence  available  as  to  whether  the  age  of  marriage 
is  rising  or  falling. 

The  question  of  morality  is  one  that  cannot  be  discussed  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy.  Certain  conditions  are  suggestive  of 
tendencies. 

Some  of  the  physicians  interviewed  commented  upon  the  prev- 
alence of  venereal  disease  or  the  effects  of  it  among  elements  of  the 
rural  population.  The  impression  given  by  them  is  that  diseases 
of  this  kind  are  more  prevalent  than  is  generally  supposed. 

One  indication  of  conditions  is  the  number  of  illegitmate 
births  in  a district.  According  to  the  report  of  the  Bureau  of 
Vital  Statistics  for  the  State  in  1909,  the  rates  of  illegitimacy  for 
the  state  and  for  Butler  and  neighboring  counties  is  as  follows: 

TABLE  II 


Rate  Illegitimacy  Per  100,000  Population  1909 


Division 

No.  Per  100,000 

State 

47-7 

Butler  Co. 

311 

Darke  Co. 

47.0 

Montgomery  Co. 

40-3 

Preble  Co. 

25.0 

Hamilton  City 

26. 1 

Middletown  City 

56.6 

Dayton  City 

46.0 

No  relationship  between  rural  conditions  and  illegitimacy 
seems  to  exist  in  these  figures  except  that  Darke  County,  with  a 
large  portion  of  its  population  living  in  the  country  districts  or 
the  villages  has  a high  rate,  and  in  Butler  county  the  rate  for 
Hamilton,  O.,  is  lower  than  that  for  the  county  at  large.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  rate  for  Preble  County  is  far  below  the  average 
for  the  state  and  the  rate  for  Middletown  city  and  Dayton  is  high. 


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Miami  University 


The  rate  in  each  of  the  counties  mentioned  is  below  the’  average 
for  the  state. 

The  most  careful  investigation  possible  under  the  circum- 
stances appears  to  point  conclusively  to  the  fact  that  moral  condi- 
tions are  constantly  improving  in  the  rural  districts  of  Butler 
County  and  of  the  other  counties  mentioned.  The  decrease  of  rural 
population  in  Ohio  does  not  indicate  degeneration,  but  a rising 
standard  of  living  for  a more  limited  but  financially  better  equipped 
population.  No  better  way  can  be  used  to  present  graphically 
moral  tendencies  than  by  quoting  the  reports  of  the  field  agents 
as  to  conditions  in  the  several  townships.  ( i ) ‘ ‘Saloons  voted  out, 
dry  from  four  to  eight  years;  more  interest  in  schools;  less  row- 
dyism.” (2)  “Better  language;  less  drinking.”  (3)  “Religious; 
no  graft;  little  drinking  and  profane  language.”  (4)  “Growing 
sentiment  against  the  saloons.”  (5)  “Saloon  patronized  less, 
church  more.”  (6)  “Few  arrests,  little  drunkenness  or  rowdyism.” 
In  a few  of  the  townships  the  reports  are  not  so  satisfactory. 
These  are  in  cases  where  there  is  some  centre  of  immoral  infection. 
Here  “Little  interest  in  church;”  “More  drinking  and  profanity;” 
“Churches  dead;”  “Less  care  for  the  training  of  children”  is  the 
typical  condition.  In  those  communities  where  the  cross  road 
saloon  still  exists  influence  on  the  life  of  the  community  is 
quite  noticeable.  In  one  case  in  particular,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  one  of  the  larger  cities  a resort  is  operated  on  Saturdays  and 
Sundays.  Beer  is  sold  without  restriction,  a dancing  platform  is 
maintained  and  the  place  is  operated  without  restriction  as  to  age. 
Here  a few  of  the  foreign  families  congregate  for  the  day’s  outing. 
This  in  itself  would  not  be  so  objectionable,  but  the  evidence  is 
that  the  place  also  becomes  the  gathering  place  of  the  more  cor- 
rupt elements  of  the  social  life  of  the  neighboring  city.  Thus  the 
good  and  the  bad  are  thrown  together  and  the  results  cannot  be 
helpful  to  the  community. 

An  interesting  phase  of  the  problem  of  morality  in  relation 
to  the  religious  life  of  these  communities  is  that  while  the  churches 
in  many  instances  are  losing  membership,  the  tone  of  the  commu- 
nity is  improving.  The  suggestion  is  that  other  fundamental  for- 
ces are  at  work  tending  to  raise  the  social  standards  of  the  com- 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


29 


munities  to  a higher  plane.  These  forces  appear  to  be  (1)  the 
leavening  of  the  rural  community  through  contact  with  the  higher 
culture  of  the  cities.  The  crudeness  of  an  earlier  civilization  ap- 
pears to  be  passing  away.  The  better  and  not  the  worse  elements 
in  the  cities  appear  to  exert  the  greatest  influence.  The  resident 
in  the  country  district  who  has  had  his  habits  formed  and  his  love 
of  the  good  fixed  before  coming  into  contact  with  city  life  copies 
the  good  of  the  urban  community.  Thus  urban  culture  is  grad- 
ually raising  the  standards  of  the  country.  (2)  The  greater  force 
with  which  the  moral  influence  operates  in  the  country  through 
the  development  of  means  of  communication  isolated  rudeness 
disappears  before  the  closer  relationships  of  modern  life.  (3) 
The  public  schools.  The  introduction  several  years  ago  of  courses 
on  hygiene,  of  the  study  of  the  evils  of  the  use  of  liquor  has  had 
its  effects.  The  younger  generation  has  been  put  on  its  guard 
against  the  dangers  of  many  things  that  were  formerly  regarded 
with  indifference.  (4)  The  farm  magazine  and  other  peri- 
odicals. (5)  The  extension  work  of  the  colleges  and  experiment 
stations.  The  past  few  years  have  witnessed  a wonderful  ad- 
vance in  the  point  of  view  upon  life  by  the  country  people 
through  the  ideas  disseminated  in  the  farm  journals,  and  farmers’ 
institutes.  Culture  is  at  a higher  stage  than  it  once  was  and  the 
forces  at  work  including  the  religious  agencies  are  tending  to 
bring  it  to  a still  higher  level. 

Housing  conditions  generally  conform  to  the  relative  prosper 
ity  of  the  community.  In  the  southern  part  of  Butler  County,  for 
example,  the  “housing  conditions  are  good.  Practically  every 
home  has  the  ordinary  household  conveniences,  many  have  bath, 
plumbing  in  the  kitchen,  furnace,  one  of  the  modern  lighting  sys- 
tems, etc.  ’ ’ The  newer  houses  erected  in  sections  of  Preble,  Darke 
and  Montgomery  Counties,  where  tobacco  is  raised,  have  every 
modern  convenience  and  in  many  cases  are  superior  to  the  average 
city  home.  In  other  parts  of  the  sectiou  where  the  more  progres- 
sive farmers  live,  the  homes  are  also  well  improved.  In  some 
places  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  community  has  been  settled  for 
many  years,  the  houses  are  old  and  lack  most  of  the  mod- 
ern improvements.  In  the  majority  of  homes  lighting  is  still 


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Miami  University 


with  oil  lamps  and  heating  is  by  means  of  stoves  instead  of 
furnaces.  As  a rule  the  houses  do  not  have  water  or  plumbing 
of  any  kind,  the  soft  water  being  drawn  from  cisterns. 
Most  of  the  homes,  however, are  plainly  but  well  furnished  with 
carpets,  pictures,  curtains,  musical  instruments  and  modern  equip- 
ment for  caring  for  the  milk  supply.  The}^  are  generally  well 
kept  and  the  sanitary  conditions  are  good.  The  principal 
difficulty  is  in  the  lack  of  protection  against  the  inclemencies  of  the 
weather.  The  death  rate  from  pneumonia  in  the  rural  districts  is 
evidence  of  the  effect  of  this  condition. 

Community  leadership  in  southwestern  Ohio  is  generally  lack- 
ing. This  lack  of  leadership  seems  to  be  a survival  of  the  extreme 
individualism  which  has  characterized  the  life  of  rural  commu- 
nities in  the  state  during  their  entire  history.  Examples  of  this 
individualizing  tendency  are  to  be  found  in  the  ease  with  which 
small  village  communities  could  become  incorporated;  in  the  ex- 
treme localization  of  control  of  the  common  or  district  schools 
under  a localty  elected  board  of  directors;  in  the  provision  for  the 
formation  of  special  school  districts;  in  the  multiplying  of  small 
denominational  church  units.  This  influence  has  broken  up  the 
life  of  the  community  so  that  no  one  man  or  group  of  men  can 
be  said  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  community.  The  political  leaders 
are  a different  group  from  the  leaders  in  the  churches;  those  teach- 
ers who  have  done  efficient  work  in  the  district  schools  are  influ- 
ential only  in  their  own  districts  or  at  least  only  indirectly  in  a 
larger  field  through  voluntary  organization  with  other  teachers. 
The  “Rural  Community’’  can  hardly  be  saidtoexist  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  state.  There  are  rural  districts  but  not  rural 
communities.  The  “Rural  Community”  we  are  told  once  existed 
but  owing  to  changes  which  have  been  going  on  has  disappeared. 
Such  social  life  as  exists  is  found  in  small  exclusive  groups  and 
many  of  these  groups  have  but  little  in  them  that  promises  well 
for  the  regeneration  of  the  life  of  the  country. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  accurately  the  social  forces  operating 
in  a rural  community.  Differences  in  amount  of  property  owned 
do  not  appear  to  exercise  an  important  influence  in  breaking  up 
the  community  into  classes.  The  fact  of  property  ownership  or 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio  31 

of  being  attached  to  a family  that  owns  property  is  a guarantee 
of  social  standing  in  the  community.  With  the  increase  in  tenan- 
try and  the  change  in  the  type  of  laborers  employed  some  social 
. cleavage  becomes  evident.  The  transition  to  modern  profit  seek- 
ing agriculture,  however,  has  had  an  indirect  effect  on  social  life 
in  that  it  has  emphasized  the  property  acquiring  motive  until  it 
has  broken  down  many  of  the  social  tendencies  of  an  earlier  time. 
Families  associate  less  because  the  struggle  for  wealth  has  tended 
to  take  more  of  their  time.  Increased  family  isolation  accom- 
panying the  struggle  has  intensified  the  unsocial  tendencies  in  the 
country. 

It  speaks  well  for  the  rural  population  that  the  dividing  lines, 
so  far  as  they  exist  between  groups,  are  more  along  lines  of 
ethical  standards  than  along  lines  of  property  ownership.  For 
instance,  the  fact  that  one  individual  is  a “wet”  and  another  is 
“dry,”  has  more  to  do  in  determining  group  sympathy  than  that 
the  one  owns  one  hundred  acres  and  the  other  but  forty.  The 
dividing  lines  in  rural  communities  are  that  one  is  a frequenter 
of  a saloon  while  another  is  not;  that  one  family  attends  dances 
while  another  does  not;  or  that  one  family  is  a staunch  adherent  of 
the  church  while  another  is  not;  these  are  of  more  importance 
than  actual  accumulations  of  wealth. 

This  ethical  basis  of  rating  friends  in  the  country  is  distinctly 
favorable  to  the  rural  population  and  suggests  that  if  the  problem 
of  reorganization  is  undertaken  in  time  much  of  the  evil  in 
standards  prevailing  in  cities  may  be  avoided.  Although  there  is 
extreme  lack  of  social  life,  the  country  is  nearer  democracy  than 
the  cities,  and  prompt  action  may  make  it  the  leader  in  the  renewal 
of  the  democratic  spirit. 

No  sets  or  cliques  exist  other  than  those  which  are  formed 
on  the  perfectly  natural  basis  of  close  acquaintanceship  and  friend- 
ship arising  out  of  co-operation  in  the  work  of  harvesting  crops, 
of  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  church  or  of  the  farmers’  organi- 
zation. In  many  parts  of  Butler  County  “thresher’s  rings”  are 
found.  These  rings  afford  a dividing  line  for  invitation  to  social 
affairs  which  gives  a group  of  convenient  size  for  the  average 
country  home.  These,  however,  cannot  be  called  cliques  in  the 


m u B 8 


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Miami  University 


undesirable  sense  of  the  word.  In  Montgomery  and  Preble 
Counties  are  to  be  found  a number  of  special  religious  groups 
belonging  to  the  Brethren  Church.  These  dress  differently  from 
the  general  community  but  in  most  other  respects  are  assimilated 
into  the  community.  In  certain  parts  of  Montgomery  County  the 
foreign  elements  moving  into  the  county  have  not  yet  been  assim- 
ilated. 

The  democratic  spirit  of  the  country  still  generally  includes 
the  hired  help.  Hired  hands  are  treated  as  equals.  The  demand 
for  help  is  such  that  any  other  treatment  would  result  in  not  be- 
ing able  to  secure  any  assistance.  The  only  place  where  there  is 
any  tendency  to  depart  from  the  time  honored  custom  of  equal 
treatment  is  in  those  districts  where  the  farmers  have  accumulated 
considerable  property  and  where  the  help  is  of  a foreign  or 
widely  different  type  from  the  landlords.  Here  is  to  be  found 
evidence  of  class  differentiation. 

So  far  the  farmers  as  a group  do  not  appear  to  have  developed 
an  effective  class  consciousness.  This  lack  of  recognition  of  com- 
mon interests  shows  itself  in  the  broken  social  life;  in  the  exclu- 
sive attention  to  personal  economic  advancement  regardless  of 
the  welfare  of  the  group;  in  the  lack  of  interest  in  public  affairs; 
in  the  lack  of  interest  in  co-operative  projects;  and  in  the  wide- 
spread dissatisfaction  with  farm  life,  especially  among  the  younger 
people.  The  farmer  shows  his  attitude  toward  his  work  by 
desiring  to  train  his  son  or  daughter  to  teach  school  or  to  enter  a 
city  profession  and  in  his  open  or  secret  iack  of  respect  for  the 
young  person  who,  having  gone  to  college,  should  show  himself  so 
unworthy  of  the  confidence  placed  in  him  as  to  return  to  the  farm. 
Parents  thus  inadvertently  admit  that  the  life  of  the  farmer  is  in 
the  estimation  of  the  farmer  himself  of  a lower  grade  than  the 
life  of  other  groups  in  the  community.  This  lack  of  commu- 
nity interest  is  prevalent  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state,  just 
as  it  is  in  rural  communities  elsewhere,  and  the  existence  of  this 
spirit  is  one  of  the  most  serious  hindrances  to  social  reorganization. 
The  farmer  must  come  to  a realization  of  the  dignity  of  his  labor 
and  of  his  work;  he  must  recognize  that  the  farmers  as  a group 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


33 


have  certain  common  interests  and  that  these  interests  must  be 
worked  for  by  the  farmers  through  co-operative  effort. 

There  are  certain  forces  still  at  work  tending  to  break  down 
the  social  life  of  the  country  districts.  Among  these  are,  first, 
the  telephone.  When  first  introduced  the  telephone  becomes  an 
agency  for  communication  between  friends  and  neighbors.  People 
like  to  call  up  their  neighbors  to  try  the  new  invention.  So 
long  as  the  novelty  of  the  telephone  exists  it  is  quite  popular. 
What  is  at  first  used  frequently  as  a novelty  in  the  end  becomes  a 
factor  to  prevent  close  personal  relationship.  The  telephone 
eliminates  those  friendly  personal  chats  that  were  almost  inevi- 
table when  the  farmer  had  to  walk  or  drive  to  his  neighbors  on 
matters  of  business. 

In  some  cases  the  telephone  may  be  the  means  of  perma- 
nently increasing  social  life,  but  its  influence  generally  seems  to 
be  in  the  other  direction. 

The  second  disintegrating  influence  is  the  rural  free  delivery. 
Once  it  was  necessary  to  drive  to  town  at  least  once  a week  to  get 
the  mail  and  many  farmers  often  found  an  excuse  to  go  oftener 
than  once  a week  for  the  same  purpose.  Or  it  might  have  been 
a trip  to  the  neighboring  country  store  to  get  some  tobacco  and 
the  mail  and  stop  to  talk  a few  minutes  with  the  store  keeper  or  the 
others  gathered  around  the  stove.  With  the  coming  of  the  rural 
free  delivery,  with  the  daily  paper  from  the  county  seat  and  with 
the  introduction  of  the  parcel  post  so  that  small  packages  may  be 
carried  from  home  to  town  for  a nominal  sum,  the  older  agencies 
for  bringing  people  together  are  fewer  than  ever  and  unless  other 
forces  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the  situation  the  life  of  the  farmer 
will  be  still  more  isolated.  The  farmer’s  relation  to  the  city  and 
the  outside  world  is  closer  than  to  his  neighbor  on  the  adjoining 
farm. 

A third  factor  whose  influence  temporarily  at  least  has  been  in 
the  direction  of  further  disintegration  of  country  life  is  the 
introduction  of  the  automobile.  The  farmer  who  has  followed  the 
plow  all  week  finds  a strong  temptation  on  the  sabbath  day  to  get 
his  family  into  the  machine  and  to  make  a long  cross  country  run. 


34 


Miami  University 


The  machine  does  not  get  into  working  order  until  it  has  run 
several  miles  past  the  door  of  the  old  church,  and  consequently  we 
hear  the  plaint  from  the  country  pastor  that  it  would  be  a good 
thing  for  the  churches  if  these  “infernal”  machines  had  never 
been  invented.  The  pleasure  seeker  with  the  automobile  is  not 
brought  into  more  than  a very  limited  social  life.  As  yet  the 
number  of  machines  is  too  limited  to  justify  the  formation  of 
automobile  parties  and  even  in  that  case  the  only  social  intercourse 
is  at  the  wayside  inn  where  refreshments  partaken  of  far  away 
from  home  may  not  be  conducive  to  the  moral  development  of 
the  partaker.  It  may  be  that  after  the  automobile  has  won  its 
way  into  country  life  as  a fixture  and  after  the  novelty  of 
“seeing  the  country”  has  worn  off  it  will  become  one  of  the  most 
powerful  of  integrating  agencies.  It  has  already  exerted  a power- 
ful influence  in  the  direction  of  road  improvement  and  will  doubt- 
less be  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  getting  the  people  together 
during  the  evenings  and  on  the  Sabbath  day  during  a large  part 
of  the  year.  This  will  be  especially  valuable  during  the  months 
when  the  available  teams  are  hard  at  work  in  the  fields  and  need 
rest  on  the  sabbath  day  and  during  the  evenings.  The  effect  of 
the  automobile  on  the  church  in  the  open  country  will  be  further 
discussed  under  causes  of  church  decline. 

Sectarianism  in  the  churches  is  a survival  that  still  acts  as  a 
dividing  force  upon  the  life  of  the  country.  Three  churches  in  a 
community  where  there  ought  to  be  but  one  are  as  effective  a dis- 
integrating agency  as  could  well  be  conceived.  No  one  group 
can  go  ahead  in  the  process  of  socializing  the  community, 
because  none  of  the  others  will  follow  and  because  no  one  of  the 
groups  can  reach  a sufficient  number  of  the  community  to  become 
an  agency  of  progress.  So  long  as  the  schools,  which  are  public 
and  which  are  community  affairs,  deal  exclusively  with  the  children, 
and  so  long  as  they  fail  to  extend  their  activities  to  the  commun- 
ity at  large,  they  also  fail  to  become  the  agency  for  leadership 
for  community  welfare. 

Good  roads  so  far  have  apparently  had  an  economic  rather 
than  a social  influence.  Other  forces,  such  as  the  telephone,  the 
rural  free  delivery,  the  automobile  have  been  more  far  reaching 


Rurae  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


35 


in  their  effects  than  have  the  changes  in  means  of  transportation. 
As  has  been  shown,  the  improvement  of  roads  has  been  so 
general  throughout  the  different  parts  of  the  country  that  no 
very  marked  distinctions  can  be  found  based  on  differences  in 
facilities  of  transportation.  The  fact  that  social  life  has  not 
improved,  but  if  anything  has  continued  to  deteriorate  is  evi- 
dence that  other  forces  more  powerful  are  operating  in  the  rural 
districts.  The  only  exception  to  this  relation  of  roads  to  social 
life  is  that  on  some  of  the  more  inaccesible  back  roads  along  the 
creeks  and  on  cross  roads  are  to  be  found  a larger  proportion  of 
older  unimproved  houses,  and  more  of  the  population  in  these 
districts  are  not  progressive  than  along  the  main  lines  of  traffic 
where  good  transportation  facilities  have  had  an  effect  on  the 
value  of  land.  The  social  conditions  here  may  be  due  to  the 
tendency  of  the  less  efficient  or  those  with  smaller  resources  to 
gravitate  to  or  remain  in  those  districts  where  cheap  lands  afford 
an  opportunity  to  make  a living  without  the  use  of  modern 
methods  of  agriculture.  In  this  way  the  bad  roads  become  a 
cause  of  social  differentiation. 

On  the  other  hand,  certain  forces  are  operating  to  bring  the 
people  of  the  country  together.  The  first  is  the  growing  feeling 
of  rural  solidarity  and  the  growing  class  consciousness.  This 
sentiment  is  the  result  of  a combination  of  influences.  The 
work  of  the  Roosevelt  Country  kife  Commission  and  the  wide 
spread  study  of  country  life  problems  resulting  from  the  movement 
started  by  that  commission  have  led  the  farmers  themselves  to 
take  up  the  problem  of  socializing  the  farm.  The  growing  social 
spirit  that  has  reached  every  class  of  society  has  effected  the 
rural  population  and  the  farmer’s  devotion  to  money  making  as 
an  end  in  itself  is  beginning  to  give  way  to  ideals  of  community 
welfare  as  against  individual  advancement.  The  increasing 
economic  welfare  of  the  rural  population  lessens  the  pressure  of 
existence  and  makes  possible  the  development  of  the  less  sordid 
phases  of  country  life.  The  feeling  that  the  farm  has  possibilities 
and  advantages  as  a place  for  living  as  well  as  for  making  a living  is 
growing  and  is  causing  an  increased  interest  in  the  solution  of 
the  problems  of  social  life. 


36 


Miami  University 


In  sections  where  conditions  have  made  necessary  the  devel- 
opment of  co-operation  the  social  spirit  has  one  of  the  firmest 
bases  for  growth.  Men  who  work  together  in  a business  way 
seek  one  another  in  a social  way  and  with  the  increase  in  interest 
in  community  economic  welfare  the  disintegrating  influence  of  an 
exaggerated  interest  in  individual  or  family  welfare  tends  to 
disappear. 


A COMMUNITY  CENTER 


;• 


Reily,  Butler  County,  Town  Hall.  Meeting  place  for  township 
school  entertainments,  lectures,  farmers’  meetings. 


At  the  present  time  there  is  practically  no  place  provided  in 
any  part  of  the  country  for  informal  meeting.  The  street  corner, 
and  the  grocery  store,  blacksmith  shops,  railway  stations,  saloons 
and  commercialized  pool  rooms  are  the  only  places  that  could  be 
thought  of  by  the  farmers  in  any  of  the  communities.  Such  a 
thing  as  a social  centre  where  people  can  come  feeling  a perfect 
right  to  be  there  and  spend  the  leisure  hours  in  friendly  conver- 
sation is  unknown.  The  lack  of  a meeting  place  is  repeatedly 


Rurae  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


37 


voiced  by  farmers  who  have  come  into  new  communities  and 
have  felt  to  the  fullest  extent  the  awful  loneliness  of  farm 
life  among  strangers  even  in  so  densely  a populated  section  as 
that  of  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state.  One  lady  expressed 
the  situation  by  saying  “that  she  almost  died  through  loneliness 
when  she  first  came  into  the  new  community.’  ’ A tenant  farmer 
said  that  for  two  or  three  years  he  would  often  go  out  on  the 
road  and  walk  for  two  or  three  miles  in  the  evening  in  order  to 
get  away  from  the  awful  loneliness  of  the  place.  And  yet  both 
these  families  lived  within  sight  of  one  of  the  representa- 
tive villages  in  the  country.  The  street  corner  is  better 
than  nothing,  but  it  is  a very  poor  substitute  for  some  common 
gathering  place  where  men  and  women  can  go  and  mingle  with 
their  fellows  without  feeling  that  they  are  encroaching  on  the 
privacy  of  others’  homes. 

The  suggestion  might  be  made  that  people  could  visit  their 
neighbors.  But  the  sensitiveness  of  country  people  is  such  that 
they  hesitate  to  visit  others  often  unless  it  be  near  relatives  for 
fear  that  those  visited  will  tire  of  them  and  prefer  that  they  stay 
away.  This  is  a very  important  factor  in  the  social  life  of  the 
rural  community.  In  one  case  where  the  farmers  in  a neighbor- 
hood had  turned  an  abandoned  church  into  a dance  hall  the 
entire  neighborhood  was  welcome  at  stated  periods,  and  the 
majority  of  people  went  even  though  they  had  never  danced  in 
their  lives  and  did  not  dance  while  at  tne  meetings.  The  oppor- 
tunity was  given  them  to  meet  with  their  neighbors  on  a basis 
of  equality  and  to  talk  or  to  get  relaxation  from  watching  the 
young  people  enjoying  the  pleasure  of  the  dance.  Here  was  one 
of  the  nearest  approaches  to  a true  rural  social  centre  found  in 
the  entire  section. 

The  young  people  have  opportunities  of  meeting  at  the 
churches,  at  occasional  local  parties  and  socials  given  in  the 
homes.  These  seem  to  be  about  the  only  opportunities  for  social 
life  afforded  the  young  folks  in  the  country  districts.  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  our  young  people  seek  the  more  attractive  and 
more  lively  environment  of  the  city,  even  though  they  may  not 
have  the  .same  opportunities  of  earning  a good  living  ? 


38 


Miami  University 


There  are  few  provisions  made  for  the  gathering  of  all  the 
people  in  common  assemblage  for  any  purpose.  The  county  fair 
is  intended  for  the  agricultural  population  and  is  well  attended. 
Union  Sunday  School  picnics  are  generally  held  once  a year  in  the 
district  studied  and  the  farmers’  institutes  afford  opportunities 
for  community  gatherings  in  different  townships.  The  farmers’ 
institutes  are  doing  work  in  the  way  of  arousing  interest  in  more 
scientific  methods  of  farming,  but  to  the  present  time  have  done 
little  with  the  science  of  making  the  farm  a home. 

A word  should  be  said  in  regard  to  the  social  utility  of  the 
county  and  the  street  fairs  as  they  are  at  present  conducted  in 
Butler  County.  At  a fair  held  recently  in  one  of  the  villages  of 
the  county  special  effort  was  made  to  have  adequate  agricultural  and 
household  exhibits  and  for  this  all  praise  is  to  be  given.  It  is 
a step  in  the  right  direction.  The  special  exhibit  of  literature 
available  to  the  farmer,  from  the  Experiment  Station,  the  Ohio 
Department  of  Agriculture,  the  State  University,  and  the  United 
States  Department  ofAgriculture,  was  also  worthy  of  special 
commendation.  But  the  side  issues,  the  privileges  which  are 
granted  to  help  pay  the  expenses  of  the  fair,  in  some  cases  deserve 
the  severest  condemnation.  Either  there  is  a reflection  on  the 
interest  of  the  farmer  or  there  is  most  lamentable  ignorance  on 
the  part  of  fair  managers  when  such  things  as  physical  human 
deformity  are  exhibited  for  pay,  or  when  petty  gambling  becomes 
a large  part  of  the  fair  exhibit.  The  same  criticism  applies  to 
the  exhibitions  at  the  county  fair.  At  the  last  county  fair  in 
Butler  County  there  were  excellent  exhibits  from  the  Experiment 
Station,  and  from  the  farms  in  different  parts  of  the  county;  but 
in  addition  to  these  were  to  be  found  the  side  shows  and  other 
amusements  whose  presence  at  a county  fair  may  be  seriously 
questioned.  Farmers  and  their  wives  seeing  the  preliminary 
exhibits  of  these  shows  turned  aside  in  disgust  and  did  not  pat- 
ronize them.  They  were  an  insult  to  their  dignit3^  and  to  their 
ideals  of  morality.  These  relics  of  a ruder  age  should  be  omitted 
from  the  schedule  of  a modern  gathering,  and  the  farmers,  for 
whom  the  fair  is  primarily  intended,  should  see  to  it  that  their 
desires  in  matters  of  this  kind  be  respected.  The  cheap,  ques- 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


39 


tionable  show  is  a side  issue  and  detracts  from  true  progress  in 
fair  exhibits. 

The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  racing  as  it  is  conducted  at 
fairs  at  the  present  time.  Racing  is  on  a professional  basis 
and  is  carried  on  among  horsemen  who  transport  their  horses 
from  county  to  county  to  take  part  in  the  races  for  the  sake  of 
winning  the  large  prize  offered.  The  races  have  but  little  direct 
relation  to  stock  improvement  and  in  too  many  cases  must  be 
classed  with  the  saloon,  the  gambling  den  and  the  dive  in  their 
moral  influence. 

THE  COUNTRY  BOYS’  OUTING 


Montgomery  County  Young  Mens’  Christian  Association. 

Social  life  in  the  country  districts  in  recent  years  appears  to 
have  been  undergoing  a process  of  reorganization  along  lines 
of  blood  relationship.  Sunday  visiting  is  largely  among  relatives 
and  the  family  reunion  has  become  a widespread  and  popular 
institution.  Many  of  the  families  plan  to  meet  once  a year  for  a 
social  picnic.  Families  not  only  from  the  home  township  but 
from  neighboring  counties  or  other  states  gather  at  these  reunions 


40 


Miami  Universisy 


These  gatherings,  while  not  on  a community  basis  and  thus  not 
democratic  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  serve  a useful  pur- 
pose in  bringing  people  together  from  widely  separated  dis- 
tricts and  in  broadening  the  interests  of  all.  The  families  that  have 
these  reunions  do  not  do  so  with  any  thought  of  exclusiveness 
but  because  family  relationships  now  offer  the  strongest  basis  for 
an  attempted  renewal  of  social  life  in  the  country.  It  may  be 
that  the  family  reunion  is  simply  a transition  state  preparing  the 
way  for  the  reunion  of  the  country  people  on  a community  basis 
in  a larger  relationship  than  that  of  mere  flesh  and  blood. 

The  church  appears  to  take  the  lead  as  an  organization  in 
furnishing  social  amusement  to  the  young  people  of  the  several 
communities.  The  recreation  furnished  by  the  church  takes  the 
form  of  socials  and  picnics.  In  one  township  the  church  co-oper- 
ates with  the  schools  in  carrying  on  a lecture  course.  The 
schools  in  some  of  the  organized  townships,  furnish  entertain- 
ment in  the  way  of  picnics  and  socials,  get  the  young  people 
together  in  atheletic  contests  and  provide  for  literary  gatherings. 
While  the  schools  do  not  take  active  part  over  as  wide  an  area  as 
the  churches  they  furnish  a much  wider  variety  of  amusement 
than  do  the  churches.  The  saloons  afford  amusement  and  recre- 
ation to  a considerable  number  in  those  townships  where  they 
still  exist.  Cards,  pool,  and  billiards,  and  the  opportunity  for 
passing  the  evening  hours  in  company  with  other  men  appear  to 
be  the  attractions  of  the  saloon.  In  addition  to  recreation  afforded 
by  these  institutions  the  lodges  have  occasional  gatherings  of  a 
social  nature.  In  some  of  the  villages  are  to  be  found  the  com- 
mercial pool  rooms  and  the  moving  picture  shows.  These  forms 
of  entertainment  are  well  attended  by  the  village  people  as  well 
as  by  those  from  the  nearby  rural  neighborhood.  Three  town- 
ships in  Butler  County  and  several  in  Montgomery  County 
reported  Sunday  baseball,  with  fair  attendance  by  those  not 
religiously  inclined. 

The  percentage  of  people  interested  in  any  of  these  amuse- 
ments aside  from  the  socials  and  picnics  is  very  small.  The 
country  people  have  practically  no  interest  in  basketball,  bowling, 
football,  lecture  courses,  tennis,  golf,  or  indoor  gymnastic  exer- 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


4i 


cise  of  any  kind.  Probably  300  country  people  are  reached  by  base- 
ball contests  in  Butler  County,  and  150  by  lecture  courses.  Reily 
Township  in  this  county,  has  been  particularly  successful  in  this 
respect.  Most  of  the  people  attended  the  county  fair  once  a 
year,  and  attend  a picnic  or  social  at  some  time  during  the  year. 

The  family  reunions  already  mentioned,  Sunday  visiting  and 
the  friendly  conversations  on  the  street  corners  on  market  days  and 
in  commercialized  amusement  places,  are  about  the  only  forms  of 
social  life  in  the  country.  This  is  good  so  far  as  it  goes  but  evi- 
dently is  not  representative  of  the  possibilities  of  social  develop- 
ment. 

The  factors  and  the  forces  which  condition  social  growth  hav- 
ing been  considered,  it  is  now  in  order  to  describe  the  tendencies 
and  influence  of  organized  social  life  in  the  rural  communities.  The 
principal  organized  social  agencies  are  the  fraternal  secret  orders, 
farmers’  organizations,  the  church  and  the  school.  In  the  follow- 
ing pages  the  extent  of  activities  of  each  of  these  social  agencies 
will  be  discussed  and  so  far  as  possible  an  estimate  of  their  utility 
will  be  made  and  suggestions  for  their  reorganization  will  be  noted. 
The  secret  fraternal  societies  will  be  discussed  first. 

The  record  of  the  numbers  reached  by  the  various  fraternal 
organizations  shows  that  as  compared  with  the  entire  rural  popu- 
ation  they  reach  comparatively  few.  From  a total  of  62  societies 
studied  in  26  townships  of  Butler,  Darke  and  Montgomery  Coun- 
ties a total  membership  of  4, 572  was  reported.  The  average  attend- 
ance reported  by  the  secretaries  was  928.  As  compared  with  the 
total  rural  population  of  these  townships  this  number  is  almost 
negligible.  Montgomery  County  reports  the  largest  membership 
and  the  largest  average  attendance. 

Very  little  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  co-operation.  A 
branch  of  the  national  organization  of  the  Farmers’  Educational 
and  Co-operative  Union  has  been  organized  in  Butler  County. 
This  organization  has  been  in  existence  since  January,  1910.  At 
present  it  has  a membership  of  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Most  of 
the  members  live  in  the  western  and  northwestern  part  of  the 
county.  They  meet  in  several  local  groups  twice  a month  and 
have  a county  meeting  at  Hamilton,  Ohio  monthly.  This  organ- 
ization is  intended  primarily  for  co-operative  purchase  of  supplies 


42 


Miami  University 


for  the  farm  and  gives  comparatively  little  attention  to  the 
social  side  of  farm  life.  The  Farmers’  Union  buys  everything 
needed  for  the  farm  and  does  its  purchasing  as  a county  unit 
in  carload  lots  as  far  as  possible. 

In  addition  to  the  Farmers’  Union  the  Oxford  Township 
Farmers’  Protective  Association  has  organized  itself  into  a co-op- 
erative purchasing  society  and  is  considering  the  development  of 
co-operative  marketing  of  their  products.  This  society  has  a 
membership  of  seventy  and  is  in  a thriving  condition.  Unlike 
most  of  the  protective  associations  throughout  the  county  this 
organization  has  added  to  its  functions  those  of  co-operative  activ- 
ity as  mentioned  above.  It  has  already  purchased  coal,  fertil- 
zer,  and  other  commodities  with  a marked  advantage  saving,  it  is 
said,  from  $4.00  to  $6. 00  per  ton  on  fertilizer  alone.  This  asso- 
ciation, though  limitting  itself  largely  to  business  activites, 
arranges  for  an  annual  picnic  during  the  summer  and  a 
dinner  during  the  winter  season. 

The  fact  that  both  these  organizations  are  of  recent  develop- 
ment in  the  county  is  an  indication  of  the  growing  sense  of  soli- 
darity and  of  community  interest  among  the  farmers.  The  out- 
look is  hopeful  for  a continued  growth  of  the  usefulness  of  these 
groups.  In  addition  to  the  co-operative  organizations  mentioned, 
a few  of  the  farmers  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  are  engaged 
in  shipping  farm  produts  co-operatively, and  there  is  now  a county 
mutual  insurance  company  which  had  its  origin  in  Reily  Township, 
Butler  County. 

In  Madison  Township,  Butler  County,  a number  of  the  farm- 
ers are  connected  with  a tobacco  union  for  the  co-operative  sale 
of  their  products.  Thus  far  this  organization  has  not  been  very 
successful  on  account  of  the  attitude  of  the  farmers.  Warehouses 
are  built  in  various  towns,  and  a man  is  hired  to  oversee  the  work 
of  selling  the  tobacco.  If  a poor  man  is  in  need  of  cash,  loans 
under  certain  limitations  are  made  to  him  from  the  reserve  funds 
of  the  association.  The  difficult}7,  however,  is  to  get  a large 
enough  fund.  Farmers  hesitate  to  buy  stock  in  the  association. 
In  some  localities  it  has  been  given  up  on  account  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  farmers. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


43 


The  result  of  the  survey  in  Butler  County  so  far  as  farmers’ 
organizations  are  concerned  is  of  importance  in  showing  the  dif- 
ferent forms  these  organizations  have  taken.  The  Farmers’  Un- 
ion and  the  Protective  Associations  afford  some  social  advantage. 
In  the  western  part  of  the  county  several  farmers’  clubs  composed 
of  twelve  families  each  have  developed.  These  clubs  are  limited 
in  membership  to  this  size  because  this  number  affords  opportun- 
ity for  each  family  to  entertain  the  other  members  of  the  organ- 
ization once  during  the  year.  The  twelve  family  group  is  not  too 
large  to  make  the  problem  of  entertaining  a serious  one.  One  of 
these  organizations  has  been  in  existence  for  thirty  or  more  years 
and  has  had  the  honor  of  being  represented  by  several  of  its  mem- 
bers in  important  positions  connected  with  the  State  Department 
of  Agriculture. 

The  social  life  of  the  country  is  also  fostered  to  some  extent 
by  the  so  called  “threshers’  rings’’  which  consist  of  the  group  of 
families  which  assist  one  another  during  the  threshing  season. 
After  the  close  of  the  threshing  season  it  is  the  custom  for  some 
of  these  groups  to  have  a social  gathering  and  other  social  affairs 
are  held  from  time  to  time  during  the  year.  These  “rings’’  do 
not  appear  to  have  social  features  attached  except  in  the  western 
part  of  the  county. 

The  other  groups  reported  are  two  women’s  clubs  in  the 
eastern  part,  of  the  county,  a corn  improvement  association  in  the 
southern  part,  and  the  tobacco  growers’  organization  in  the  north 
ern  part.  Each  of  these  groups  reaches  a small  number  of  people 
and  is  doing  good  work  in  its  limited  field.  The  corn  improve- 
ment association  reaches  about  200  people  at  its  annual  meetings. 

The  records  of  the  other  counties  are  .similar.  Montgomery 
County  has  had  two  granges,  neither  of  which  is  active  at  the 
present  time.  It  has  had  four  corn  improvement  associations,  one 
of  which  is  now  in  existence  and  doing  effective  work  There  are 
several  “tobacco  leaf  growers’’  Associations,  a farmers’  Institute 
Association  in  practically  every  township,  and  in  Randolph  Town 
ship,  Montgomery  County,  is  a Social  Betterment  League.  Darke 
and  Preble  Counties  present  similar  conditions. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Rural  Church  In  Southwestern  Ohio 

Owing  to  variation  in  the  schedules  used  in  the  different 
counties  complete  comparative  tables  cannot  be  given.  The 
total  number  of  churches  studied  was  170,  distributed  as  follows: 
Butler  County  (entire  county)  54;  Montgomery  County  (9  town- 
ships) 52;  Darke  County  (13  townships)  64.  This  study  ex- 
cluded the  churches  in  Arcanum,  Bradford  and  Union  City 
in  Darke  County,  and  Oxford  in  Butler  County.  Hamilton, 
Dayton  and  Middletown  were  not  included  in  any  studies. 

The  most  tangible  criterion  for  determining  the  success  or 
failure  of  the  rural  churches  is  the  increase  or  decrease  of  mem- 
bership over  a period  of  five  or  ten  years.  In  order  to  bring  out 
more  clearly  the  problem  as  it  affects  the  strictly  “rural”  church 
and  the  church  that  has  a membership  representing  a combined 
rural  and  village  population,  the  figures  in  the  following  tables 
have  been  classified  according  to  “town-country”  churches  and 
‘ ‘country’  ’ churches,  the  former  representing  those  communities  in 
which  the  church  is  located  in  a village  but  serves  a rural  popula- 
tion as  well  and  the  latter  those  churches  located  in  the  open 
country. 

Of  39  “town-country”  churches  and  11  “country”  churches 
in  Butler  County  reporting,  the  evidence  as  to  increase  and  de 
creases  is  as  follows: 


TABLE  XII 

Increase  or  Decrease  in  Church  Membership,  Butler  County 


Status  as  to  Growth 

‘ ‘Town-Country” 

“Country” 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Churches  reporting 

37 

100.0 

11 

100.0 

Growing 

9 

24  3 

2 

18.2 

Standing  still 

5 

J3  -5 

1 

9 1 

Losing  membership. . . 

23 

62.2 

8 

72.7 

44 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


45 


This  table  indicates  that  the  village  church  has  the  advant- 
age over  the  church  in  the  open  country.  72.7  per  cent,  of  the 
rural  churches  are  losing  ground  while  but  62.2  per  cent,  of  the 
village  churches  are  decreasing  in  membership.  24.3  percent,  of 
the  village  churches  are  growing  as  against  the  total  of  but  18.2 
per  cent,  of  the  country  churches;  and  a larger  number  of  the  vil- 
lage churches  are  holding  their  own  without  any  appreciable 
change  in  either  direction. 

The  corresponding  data  for  Darke  County  are  as  follows: 


TABLE  XIII 

Increase  or  Decrease  in  Church  Membership. 


Status  as  to  Growth 

‘ ‘Town-Country’  ’ 

“Country” 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Churches  Reporting.. 

28 

100.0 

35 

100.0 

Growing 

13 

46.4 

14 

40.0 

Standing  still 

8 

28.4 

14 

40.0 

Losing  membership.  . . 

7 

25.2 

7 

20.0 

The  data  for  Darke  County  show  that  the  total  percentage  of 
country  churches  either  standing  still  or  losing  ground  is  greater 
than  that  of  the  “town-country”  group.  The  percentage  of 
“town-counry”  churches  actually  losing  ground  is  greater  for  the 
churches  in  this  county  than  for  the  country  churches.  This 
is  accounted  for  in  part  by  the  fact  that  the  two  types  of 
churches  are  more  nearly  on  an  equality  as  to  resident  pastor,  there 
being  thirteen  resident  pastors  in  the  country  districts  in  Darke 
County  as  against  none  at  all  in  Butler  County.  However, 
eleven  of  these  belong  to  the  old  order  Brethren  churches  and  do 
not  correspond  to  the  professional  pastor  of  the  modern  church. 

The  change  in  church  membership  of  the  people  in  the 
country  is  shown  also  by  the  results  of  a study  of  church  affilia- 
tions in  three  townships  of  Butler  and  Preble  Counties,  O.  The 
following  table  shows  the  distribution  of  membership  according 
to  age,  by  totals  and  by  sex: 


46 


Miami  University 


table  xiv 


Distribution  Persons  according  to  Age  and  Sex. 


Age  Group 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Total 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Male 

Female 

Total  

2069 

1035 

io35 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

20  and  under. . . 

810 

382 

428 

39-o 

36  9 

41  4 

21  to  29 

297 

152 

145 

14.6 

14-3 

14.1 

30  and  over 

962 

501 

462 

46.4 

48.8 

44-5 

TABLE  XV 


Distribution  Church  Members  according  to  Age  and  Sex. 


Age  Group 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Total 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Male 

Female 

Total 

729 

379 

450 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

20  and  under 

154 

7i 

83 

21 . 1 

18.7 

18.4 

21  to  29 

136 

68 

68 

18.8 

18.0 

T5-2 

30  and  over 

439 

240 

299 

60. 1 

63-3 

66.4 

These  figures,  while  limited  in  the  field  represented,  are 
significant  in  that  they  indicate  a fundamental  movement  going 
on  in  the  age  of  those  belonging  to  the  church.  The  percentages 
show  that  while  39  per  cent,  of  the  group  studied  are  under  21 
years  of  age,  but  21  per  cent,  of  the  church  members  belong  to 
this  group  while  over  60  per  cent,  of  the  church  members  belong 
to  the  group  over  30  years  of  age  which  represents  but  46.4  per 
cent,  of  the  population  studied.  Almost  three  times  as  large  a 
proportion  belong  to  the  second  group  as  to  the  first.  These 
figures  apply  to  both  men  and  women.  As  a matter  of  fact  it 
appears  that  the  change  in  relative  proportions  is  affecting  the 
female  population  more  seriously  than  the  male.  18.7  per 
cent,  of  all  the  male  members  reported  belong  to  the  group 
under  21  years  of  age  while  but  36.9  per  cent,  of  the  males  be- 
long to  this  group.  On  the  other  hand,  18.4  per  cent,  of  the 
females  belong  to  this  group  as  to  membership  while  over  41  per 
cent,  of  all  the  women  belong  to  this  group.  Those  30  3rears  of 
age  and  over  show  a larger  comparative  proportion  of  women  be- 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


47 


longing  to  the  church.  It  may  be  that  modern  life  is  bringing  inter- 
ests to  women  that  compete  with  the  church  for  their  attention 
more  than  they  once  did,  thus  bringing  men  and  women  more  on 
a basis  of  equality  as  to  the  influence  of  the  church  upon  them. 

CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP  IN  INVERSE  RATIO  TO 
DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION 


MEMBERSHIP  DISTRIBUTION  ACCORDING  TO  AGE 


30  AND  OVER,-  60.1% 
UNDER  30,-39.9% 


POPULATION  DISTRIBUTION  ACCORDING  TO  AGE.1900 


30  AND  OVER, -48.8% 
10  TO  30,-  51.2% 


Is  the  Church  reaching  the  young  people? 


When  these  results  are  compared  with  the  distribution  of  the 
population  according  to  age  their  significance  is  further  empha- 
sized. Of  the  57,500,000  people  io  years  of  age  and  over  in  the 
United  States  in  1900,  51.2  per  cent,  were  under  30  years  of  age 
and  48.8  per  cent,  were  over  30  years  of  age.  Less  than  27  per 
cent,  of  all  the  persons  studied  in  the  group  under  30  years  of  age 
were  church  members  while  45.6  per  cent,  of  the  group  30 
years  and  over  were  members  of  the  church.  The  indications 
are  that  the  membership  of  the  church  is  like  an  inverted  pyramid. 
The  question  inevitably  rises  as  to  what  will  be  the  status  of  church 
membership  when  the  present  27  per  cent,  pass  into  the  group  of 
those  30  years  of  age  and  over.  The  evidence  as  to  the  age  at 
which  church  membership  is  recruited  further  emphasizes  the  im- 
portance of  these  figures.  O f398  cases  for  which  data  were  obtained 


M U B 4 


Miami  University 


48 


in  Butler  Count)7  309  joined  the  church  while  still  under  21  years  of 
age;  65  between  20  and  31;  and  but  24  after  having  reached  the 
age  of  31.  77  6 per  cent,  of  all  come  into  the  church  at  the 

period  of  life  where  the  evidence  shows  the  falling  in  church 
membership  is  most  marked.  Truly  the  problem  of  the  church 
is  a serious  one  and  if  the  coming  generation  is  to  be  saved  by  the 
church,  means  must  be  devised  to  reach  the  young  people  as  they 
are  passing  through  the  critical  period  of  their  religious  experi- 
ence. 

A number  of  conditions  exist  which  cause  this  tendency.  In 
the  first  place  the  village  ministers  in  Butler  County  receive  on 
an  average  $776.00  per  year  salary  while  the  country  minister  is 
receiving  $ 528.00.  Again  not  a single  country  church  in  Butler 
County  reported  a resident  pastor  while  35  of  the  village  churches 
had  resident  pastors.  The  village  church  also  has  the  advantage 
of  having  a larger  number  of  services  per  month.  In  65  per  cent, 
of  the  village  churches  in  Butler  County  services  are  held  weekly 
while  in  nearly  65  per  cent,  of  the  rural  churches  services  are 
held  not  more  then  once  in  two  weeks.  In  Darke  County  41.6 
per  cent,  of  the  “town-country”  churches  have  services  weekly 
while  but  24  per  cent,  of  the  country  churches  have  weekly  ser- 
vices. Further,  30  per  cent,  of  the  village  churches  in  Butler 
County  have  a minister  on  full  time  while  not  a single  country 
church  is  so  supplied.  The  ministers  who  serve  the  rural  charges 
are  in  general  about  as  well  prepared  as  those  who  serve  in  the 
village. 

The  number  of  denominations  represented  in  the  country 
districts  is  also  of  importance.  Exclusive  of  the  colored  congre- 
gations which  are  made  up  very  largely  of  village  and  city  resi- 
dents there  are  eleven  different  denominations  represented  by 
church  buildings  and  organized  societies  in  Butler  County.  They 
are  Baptist,  Congregational,  Christian,  Catholic,  Evangelical, 
Lutheran,  Methodist  Episopal,  Mennonite,  German  Reformed, 
Presbyterian,  United  Presbyterian,  and  United  Brethren.  In 
thirteen  townships  of  Darke  County  there  were  17  different  de- 
nominations represented,  as  follows:  United  Brethren,  Christian, 
Church  of  the  Brethren,  Methodist  Episcopal,  Universalist,  Old 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


49 


Order  German  Baptist,  Reformed,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran,  Dis- 
ciple, Mennonite,  Wesleyan  M.  E.,  Baptist,  African  M.  E.,  York- 
ers or  Amish  Church  of  Christ,  Brethren  in  Christ.  In  9 town- 
ships of  Montgomery  Count}’,  16  denominations  were  found  as 
follows:  Methodist  Episcopal,  Baptist,  Lutheran,  Christian,  United 
Brethren,  Reformed,  Progressive  Brethren,  Brethren  in  Christ, 
Old  Order  Brethren,  Catholic,  Conservative  Brethren,  Radical 
United  Brethren,  Liberal  United  Brethren,  Evangelical,  Menn- 
onite, Presbyterian.  These  churches  were  organized  and 
located  not  in  reference  to  the  social  needs  of  the  community 
at  large,  but  in  reference  to  the  desires  of  a certain  portion  of  the 
community.  The  accompanying  map  page  50  indicates  the  results  of 
this  indiscriminate  planting  of  churches  in  accord  with  the  demands 
of  a limited  number  of  the  community. 

This  map  shows  that  the  churches  have  been  located  generally 
in  places  considered  most  convenient  for  the  membership  of  the 
respective  denominations.  The  tendency  has  been  to  plant  the 
church  buildings  in  the  villages.  The  result  of  this  tendency  is 
that  a number  of  churches  of  different  denominations  are  located 
in  the  same  community  and  there  is  a consequent  over-churching 
of  that  community.  In  other  instances,  not  so  frequent,  one  finds 
parts  of  the  count}’  in  which  no  church  is  within  convenient  driv- 
ing distance  of  the  people. 

The  map  is  also  intended  to  show  where  the  preachers  live. 
It  is  significant  that  of  all  the  preachers  .serving  rural  congregations 
in  Butler  County,  fourteen  come  into  the  county  from  outside. 
Some  of  them  have  their  residence  in  Cincinnati,  some  in  Dayton 
and  others  in  the  neighboring  counties.  In  but  one  instance  did 
the  minister  live  in  the  open  country.  In  this  instance,  the  minister 
was  also  engaged  in  operating  a farm  and  lived  just  outside  the 
limits  of  a village,  several  miles  distant  from  the  parish  he  served .. 
The  location  of  the  church  and  the  residence  of  the  ministers  both 
suggest  problems  which  it  appears  must  be  dealt  with  in  a construc- 
tive way  before  the  country  church  can  hope  to  be  of  the  greatest 
service  to  the  community. 

* Owing  to  the  fact  that  membership  in  any  church  is  not 
limited  to  the  township  in  which  that  church  is  located,  accurate 


LONG  DISTANCE  MINISTRY  WHERE  THE  CHURCHES  ARE  AND  WHERE  THE 
PREACHERS  LIVE  BUTLER,  DARKE,  MONTGOMERY  AND  PREBLE  COUNTIES,  OK 


lx! 


Minister  Resides  at  Church.  Church  with  Non-resident  Pastor.  X Residence  of  Pastor. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


5i 


data  as  to  the  proportion  of  the  population  that  belongs  to  the 
church  cannot  be  given.  However,  the  following  table  will  suggest 
the  approximate  situation  since  what  is  lost  to  churches  outside  the 
district  will  be  to  a large  extent  balanced  by  outside  membership 
in  churches  within  the  district.  The  total  church  membership  in 
relation  to  population  in  the  townships  studied  in  Butler,  Darke 
and  Montgomery  Counties  is  as  follows: 

TABLE  XVI 


Rural  Church  Membership  in  Relation  to  Total  Population 


County 

Total 

Membership 

Rural 

Population 

Per  cent. 
Membership 
of  Population 

Butler  10  towuships 

4229 

15333 

27.6 

Darke  13  townships 

5951 

20248 

29.4 

Montgomery  9 townships 

• 

6904 

29r45 

20.2 

These  conclusions  from  the  institutional  survey  correspond 
with  results  of  the  house  to  house  canvass  made  in  typical 
communities. 

The  data  as  to  the  condition  of  Sunday  Schools  in  the  coun- 
ties for  which  data  was  obtained  is  as  follows: 


TABLE  XVII 

Sunday  Schools  Butler  and  Darke  County 


Butler 

Darke 

Total  number  of  Sunday  Schools 

43 

57 

Number  having  services  12  months  

4i 

53 

Number  churches  without  Sunday  Schools 

9 

6 

Number  Sunday  Schools  without  churches 

1 

0 

Number  Sunday  Schools  in  villages 

36 

28 

Number  of  Sunday  Schools  in  country 

9 

29 

Average  enrollment  per  Sunday  School  

68.5 

82.4 

Average  attendance  per  Sunday  School 

45  • 1 

54-3 

Per  cent,  of  attendance  of  total  enrollment 

66.2 

66.5 

The  number  of  persons  enrolled  in  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the 
count}'  as  compared  with  the  total  population  or  with  the  average 
membership  of  the  churches  is  small.  The  data  as  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  members  according  to  their  rank  in  the  Sunday  School  as 
given  in  tables  XVIII  and  XIX  indicates  that  the  proportion  of 
children  compared  with  the  adult  membership  is  small. 


52 


Miami  University 


The  data  for  15  “village  ” and  4 “rural”  Sunday  Schools  in 
Butler  Count)'  which  reported  their  enrollment  by  grades  are 
as  follows: 


TABLE  XVIII 
Sunday  School  Enrolment 


Grade 

‘ ‘ Town-Country  ’ ’ 
Total 

‘‘Country” 

Total 

Enrol- 

ment 

Per 

Cent. 

Enrol- 

ment 

Per 

Cent. 

Beginners 

173 

14-81 

29 

ii-5l 

Primary 

104 

9.0  ! 

16.2  [ 59-7 

17 

6.8  ! 

1 1 . 9 \ 49 • 7 

Junior 

189 

30 

Intermediate 

229 

19- 7 J 

49 

19-5  J 

Seniors 

254 

2 1 . 8 

65 

25  9 

Adults 

215 

18.5 

6r 

24-4 

Total  enrolment 

Average 

1164 

77  7 

100.0 

251 

62.7 

100.0 

i 

In  the  “village”  churches  a larger  proportion  of  the  young 
people  are  reached.  The  per  cent,  of  children  in  the  grades 
below  the  senior  in  the  “village”  is  59.7  while  in  the  “rural”  it  is 
but  49.7.  The  intermediate  enrolment  in  both  cases  is  about  the 
same,  which  would  indicate  that  during  the  critical  period  of 
Sunday  School  life  the  “rural”  church  has  about  the  same 
advantages  as  the  “village.”  The  average  total  enrolment  of 
the  Sunday  Schools  that  reported  their  enrolment  by  grades  is 
above  the  average  for  all  the  Sunday  Schools  in  the  county. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


53 


The  corresponding  data  for  Darke  County  are  as  follows: 


TABLE  XIX 

Enrolment  Thirteen  “Town-Country”  and  Fourteen  “Country” 
Sunday  Schools,  Darke  County 


Grade 

‘ ‘Town-Country’  ’ 
Total 

“Country” 

Total 

Enrol- 

‘ment 

Per 

Cent. 

Enrol- 

ment 

Per 

Cent. 

Beginners . . 

142 

12.2  1 

82 

6. o'] 

Primary 

192 

ulK1 

240 

I7'4  lr  57  • 1 
17. 1 jJ/ 

Junior 

170 

236 

Intermediate  

243 

20. 8 J 

229 

16.6  j 

Senior 

146 

12.6 

209 

15-2 

Adult 

272 

23-3 

382 

27-7 

Total  Enrolment 

Average  Enrolment 

1165 

89 

100.0 

VO 

00  00 

100.0 

Conditions  in  Drake  County  are  similar  to  those  in  Butler 
Count)'. 


The  graded  country  schools  have  a higher  average  enrolment 
than  do  the  town-country  schools.  A larger  percentage  of  the 
enrolment  in  Darke  County  is  in  lower  grades. 

In  Montgomery  County  there  was  an  average  attendance  of 
3855  for  48  Sunday  Schools.  This  was  an  average  of  80  students 
per  school.  71  per  cent,  of  these  as  compared  with  64  per  cent, 
or  less  in  other  counties  are  enrolled  in  the  senior  or  adult  classes. 

The  activities  of  the  church  outside  of  the  regular  church 
service  and  the  Sunday  Schools  are  to  be  found  principally  in 
connection  with  the  young  people’s  societies  and  the  societies  for 
women.  The  following  table  shows  conditions  as  to  organization 
in  a total  of  52  churches  considered  in  Butler  County  and  62  in 
Darke  County. 


54 


Miami  University 


table  xx 

Church  Organizations  other  than  Sunday  Schools 


Organization. 


Number 
Butler  Darke 


No.  of  churches  considered 

No.  young  people’s  organizations 

No.  women’s  organizations  . . 

No  men’s  organizations  

No.  other  organizations 

No.  churches  without  any  organization 

No.  without  any  organziation  for  young  people 

No.  without  any  organization  for  women 

No.  without  any  organization  for  men  


52 

62 

26 

29 

47 

35 

0 

1 

4 

0 

3 

0 

32 

37 

14 

3i 

52 

61 

The  characteristic  feature  of  this  table  is  the  almost  entire 
absence  of  men’s  organization  and  the  predominance  of 
organizations  for  women.  The  number  of  women’s  organiza- 
tions is  almost  double  the  number  for  y oung  people.  Only  three 
churches  report  no  organizations  of  any  kind. 

The  social  activities  of  these  organizations  is  shown  in  the 
following  table: 

TABLE  XXI 

Social  Activities  of  Church  Organizations 


Type  of  organization 

“Town-country” 

“Country” 

Butler 

County 

Darke 

County 

Butler 

County 

Darke 

County 

Young  people’s  organizations 

23 

*5 

3 

14 

Membership 

517* 

345 

78 

243 

Average  membership 

27.2 

26 

Total  No.  socials  reported 

32 

17 

1 

4 

Socials  for  pay 

13 

4 

1 

1 

Not  giving  socials 

8 

2 

Women’s  organizations . 

39 

24 

8 

1 1 

Membership  

930  t 

394 

134 

174 

Average  membership 

27.3 

18 

Socials 

81 

17 

17 

12 

Socials  for  pay 

76 

17 

J3 

12 

Not  giving  socials 

13 

4 

Men’s  organizations.  

0 

1 

10 

0 

Other  organizations 

3 

2 

Membership  

62  J 

45 

No.  socials  

0 

4 

No.  socials  for  pay 

0 

4 

* 19  societies 
t 34  societies 
J 2 societies 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


It  should  be  noted  that  in  all  the  different  societies  the  number 
of  socials  for  pay  reported  form  a large  proportion  of  the  total. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  the  social  functions  of  women’s 
organizations.  Of  98  socials  reported  93  were  for  pay  in  the  ‘ ‘ town- 
country’  ’ group  and  of  29  reported  for  the  country  group  25  were  for 
pay.  The  number  of  socials  for  pay  is  not  so  large  in  the  young 
people’s  social  life.  But  one  men’s  organization  was  reported. 
The  figures  indicate  that  in  the  smaller  communities  the  social  life 
of  the  church  is  subordinated  to  the  task  of  financing  the  work 
of  the  church. 

The  distribution  of  church  expenses  in  the  counties  where 
such  data  were  obtained  is  very  similar. 

TABLE  XXII 


Distribution  of  Expenses 
Per  cent. 


For  what  expended 

Butler  Co. 

Darke  Co. 

(28  churches) 

“Town-country” 
(26  churches) 

‘ Country” 

(36  churches) 

Total 

too.  0 

100.0 

100.0 

Pastor’s  salary 

55-6 

53-3 

.54-8 

Benevolences 

17.2 

17.8 

19.4 

Sunday  School  

5 • 1 

11.3 

1 1 .9 

Other  expenses 

22 . 1 

17.6 

13  9 

The  marked  variation  in  the  two  counties  is  the  relatively 
large  amount  of  money  spent  for  the  Sunday  School  in  Darke 
County. 

A consideration  of  the  statistics  of  churches  in  southwestern 
Ohio  as  a whole  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  church  in  the  open 
country  is  slowly  but  surely  losing  ground  and  that  in  many  of  the 
villages  the  church  is  following  in  the  same  path.  As  between  the 
two  the  village  church  appears  to  have  the  advantage  in  the  strug- 
gle and  the  data  are  sufficiently  striking  to  suggest  that  the  solu- 
tion of  the  country  church  problem  is  the  encouragement  of  the 
congregation  located  in  the  village  and  the  ultimate  abandonment 
ofthe  church  in  the  open  country.  This  movement  toward  thevil- 


56 


Miami  University 


PROVISION  FOR  TEAMS  AS  WELL  AS  MEN 


Horsesheds,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Darrtown,  Ohio. 

lage  as  the  centre  of  the  religious  as  well  as  of  the  educational  and 
social  life  of  the  community  will  probably  continue  in  most  sections. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  problem  of  readjustment  of  the 
church  to  the  life  of  the  community  the  question  has  arisen  as  to 
whether  it  should  be  in  the  direction  of  formation  of  union  churches 
or  the  abandonment  of  the  organization  of  certain  denominations 
and  the  union  of  all  the  people  in  one  remaining  denominational 
organization.  The  data  secured  indicate  that  the  latter  policy 
will  yield  the  better  results.  The  union  church  has  no  affiliations 
with  the  larger  church  life  of  the  nation  or  of  the  world  and  is  in 
danger  of  losing  all  incentive  to  progress. 

A few  typical  instances  will  illustrate  the  problem  presented. 

“One  church  (Butler  County),  is  made  up  of  Methodists.  Bap- 
tists, Presbyterians,  and  Christians.  At  first  the  Baptists  were  the 
strongest  and  took  matters  in  charge  and  everything  went  well. 
Now  the  Christians  are  a little  the  strongest  but  they  (the  church) 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


57 


are  a little  more  equally  divided  than  formerly.  There  has  been 
no  preaching  service  for  two  years.  The  Sunday  School  is  also 
losing  in  membership.”  In  this  case  it  would  probably  be  better 
if  the  union  organization,  which  today  has  no  direct  connection 
with  outside  life  of  any  large  organization,  were  abandoned  and 
the  district  assigned  to  one  of  the  regular  denominations  by  agree- 
ment of  the  church  boards. 

Union  services  carried  on  by  two  denominations  in  the  same 
community  have  worked  successfully  in  a number  of  instances. 
At  one  centre  (Butler  County),  the  United  Presbyterian  and  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  churches  have  been  holding  union  .services  for  the 
past  fifteen  years.  These  are  held  alternately  in  the  twro 
churches  and  the  most  cordial  feeling  has  always  existed.  This 
cordiality  has  been  attributed  in  large  part  to  the  presence  of  a 
pastor  of  one  of  the  churches  who  has  been  a resident  of  the  town 
for  many  years  and  who  enjoys  the  confidence  of  all  the  people. 
In  this  case  affiliation  with  both  larger  organizations  is  maintained. 

In  another  instance  two  churches  (Eutheran  and  Methodist 
Episcopal) have  conducted  a Union  Sunday  School  for  about  twenty 
years  with  good  success.  Services  are  held  in  one  church  for  one 
Sunday  and  in  the  other  on  the  next.  The  superintendent  is  elected 
according  to  qualifications  regardless  of  church  affiliations.  The 
supplies  of  one  church  are  used  for  six  months  and  then  the  sup- 
plies of  the  other  are  purchased.  Some  years  ago,  one  of  the 
pastors  is  said  to  have  attempted  to  break  up  this  harmonious 
relation  by  the  organization  of  a separate  Sunday  School,  but  the 
people  refused  to  abandon  their  union  organization.  At  one  time, 
when  one  of  the  church  buildings  was  partially  destroyed,  man}7 
of  the  leaders  of  the  two  churches  wished  to  have  all  members  of 
the  community  use  the  same  church  building,  but  sectarianism 
on  the  part  of  the  pastors  was  too  strong  to  permit  this  movement 
toward  a community  church.  At  the  present  time  the  village  has 
two  pastors,  neither  of  whom  lives  in  the  community,  and  neither 
of  whom  receives  a large  enough  salary  to  justify  him  in  devoting 
his  entire  time  to  this  charge.  Both  churches  when  considered  in 
the  light  of  ten  years  ago  have  been  losing  ground.  The  conclusion 
appears  to  be  inevitable  that  the  church  lice  of  the  communit 


Miami  University 


58 

would  be  placed  on  a much  stronger  basis  if  one  of  the  churches 
were  abandoned  and  the  divided  salaries  were  united  into  one  for 
the  payment  of  a minister  who  could  live  in  the  community  and 
become  the  permanent  pastor  of  the  entire  countryside. 

Another  instance  of  a somewhat  similar  type  is  in  two  neigh- 
boring villages,  each  of  which  has  a Methodist  and  a Presbyterian 
church.  In  one  of  the  villages  lives  the  Methodist  minister  and 
in  the  other  the  Presbyterian  minister,  each  of  whom  has  two 
charges,  one  located  in  each  village.  It  happens  that  the  particu- 
lar charge  of  each  minister  is  the  strongest  in  the  village  in  which 
he  lives.  The  effort  has  been  made  to  get  the  weak  church  of 
each  denomination  to  close  and  join  with  the  stronger  church,  thus 
enabling  the  pastor  in  each  instance  to  devote  all  his  time  to  a 
single  organization.  In  this  case  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
is  still  too  strong  to  permit  the  union  of  churches  into  a commu 
nity  oganization.  In  still  another  instance  a Presbyterian,  a 
United  Brethren  and  a General  Reformed  church  are  located  in  a 
village  too  small  to  be  incorporated.  None  of  the  churches  are 
strong,  and  all  have  non-resident  pastors.  Enough  salar}7  is  sent 
out  of  the  community  to  these  men  to  justify  the  selection  of  a 
good  resident  pastor,  if  the  three  groups  would  get  together. 

The  first  step  in  the  movement  toward  the  community  church 
is  the  education  of  the  people  to  the  realization  that  religious  con- 
ditions in  many  of  our  communities  are  the  result  of  ideals  that 
existed  in  a period  when  people  still  placed  great  emphasis  upon 
dogmatic  statements  of  religious  belief.  Only  the  firm  belief  that 
Methodism  or  Presbyterianism  or  Baptistism  was  the  true  religion 
could  have  justiefid  the  the  duplication  of  plants  in  communi- 
ties not  large  enough  to  support  one  as  it  should  have  been  sup- 
ported. It  is  only  too  true  that  even  yet  some  of  the  leaders  of  our 
churches  actually  believe  and  teacfi  that  the  brand  of  religion  repre- 
sented by  their  particular  organization  is  the  only  one  that  will  in- 
sure a safe  entrance  into  the  heavenly  kingdom.  Happily,  how- 
ever, the  number  of  ministers  who  have  larger  views  is  increasing, 
and  this  increase  promises  a more  prosperous  and  more  efficient 
future  for  the  church. 


Rural  Strvey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


59 


The  leaders  of  some  of  our  churches  must  also  recognize  that 
the  church  exists  for  the  people  and  not  the  people  for  the  church. 
The  time  has  passed  when  the  mass  of  the  people  believe  that  the 
church  holds  over  them  such  a power  of  life  and  death  that  unless 
they  conform  to  its  demands  they  will  be  eternally  damned. 
Like  all  other  institutions  it  must  fill  a real  need  in  the  commu- 
nity life.  It  is  the  place  of  the  church  to  reach  the  people  and 
to  take  the  lead  in  the  moral  and  social  uplift  of  the  community. 

Another  problem  that  faces  the  country  church  has  been 
brought  about  by  the  development  of  trolley  lines  and  the  use  of 
automobiles.  In  many  cases  the  trolley  line  and  the  automobile 
take  to  the  neighboring  city  the  families  most  capable  financially 
and  leave  to  the  country  church  those  who  are  not  so  able  to 
support  a strong  ministry.  This  tends  toward  the  progressive 
destruction  of  the  life  of  the  country  church.  In  many  cases, 
the  abandonment  of  the  country  church  from  this  cause  does  not 
bring  with  it  a corresponding  increase  in  the  membership  of 
the  city  church,  becau.se  many  families,  willing  to  go  to  church 
in  the  country,  do  not  as  yet  feel  at  home  in  thee  ity  church 
and  consequently  drop  out  of  the  church  and  neither  the  parents 
nor  their  children  have  the  benefit  of  church  life. 

The  problem  of  abandoned  churches  is  one  that  has  aroused 
much  interest  in  recent  years.  So  far  as  the  investigation  was 
able  to  determine  Butler  County  has  at  least  27  abandoned 
churches  within  its  limits.  These  chuches  are  located  as  follows: 


TABLE  XXIII 

Abandoned  Churches,  Butler  County 


Township 

Number 

Denominations  represented 

Total 

27 

Fairfield 

3 

M.  E.,  U.  B.,  Univ. 

Liberty  

3 

M.  K.,  U.  B.,  Baptist 

Madison 

6 

M.  E.,  U.  B.,  Bapt.,Prim.  Bapt.,Ger.  Ref. 

Milford 

1 

M.  E. 

Lemon 

1 

Baptist 

Oxford 

5 

M.  E.,  Baptist 

Reily 

2 

Baptist,  Univ. 

St.  Clair 

2 

Mennonite,  Luth.,  Reformed 

Wayne 

4 

M.  E.,  U.  B.,  Ref.,  Luth. 

6o 


Miami  University 


The  other  counties  report  a somewhat  smaller  number  of 
abandoned  organizations. 

Recent  discussions  in  the  periodicals  in  regard  to  abandoned 
churches  have  had  a tendency  to  lead  the  general  reader  to  look 
upon  church  abandonment  in  a more  serious  light  than  it  really 
deserves.  The  fact  that  at  least  27  churches  in  Butler  County 
have  been  abandoned  might  be  considered  of  itself  a serious  matter , 
but  when  taken  in  connection  with  other  conditions  it  is  found  to 
be  in  most  cases  an  evidence  of  progress  rather  than  of  retrogression 
in  social  and  religious  life.  A brief  statement  as  to  the  cause  of 
abandonment  of  several  of  these  churches  will  indicate  the  real 
significance  of  the  movement. 

In  Oxford  township  there  once  existed  4 different  Methodist 
churches  that  no  longer  have  any  place  in  the  religious  life  of  the 
community.  One  of  these  was  abandoned,  it  is  said,  about  55 
years  ago,  another  about  45  years  ago,  still  another  about  35 
years  ago,  and  the  last  about  20  years  ago.  In  each  case  the 
abandonment  of  the  church  was  coincident  with  the  shifting  of 
population  and  with  the  growth  of  means  of  transportation  enab- 
ling the  members  to  affiliate  with  larger  organizations.  The  other 
church  in  the  township  which  has  been  abandoned  was  a primitive 
Baptist  organization  within  the  limits  of  Oxford.  The  passing 
away  of  the  old  members  and  the  failure  of  the  new  ones  to  take 
their  places  finally  forced  the  disbanding  of  the  church.  The 
same  story  is  told  of  several  other  organizations  that  at  one  time 
met  a need  in  the  community  but  owing  to  changed  conditions 
lost  their  influence.  Some  of  the  German  congregations  have 
been  displaced  by  a younger  generation  of  English  speaking  peo- 
ple and  the  old  church  has  been  abandoned.  In  other  cases  the 
membership  find  it  more  convenient  to  attend  another  church  of 
the  same  denomination  and  the  older  organization  is  disbanded. 
I11  some  cases  the  shifting  of  population  bringing  in  people  of 
another  religious  faith  has  gradually  caused  the  old  church  to 
lose  its  hold.  In  many  instances  the  abandonment  of  churches 
has  not  meant  a decline  of  religious  spirit  but  merely  a shifting  of 
influence  from  one  denomination  to  another.  The  modern  decline 
in  church  influence  is  related  to  causes  much  more  fundamental 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio  6i 

and  serious  than  the  causes  that  are  accountable  for  the  abandoned 
churches. 

In  a few  instances  the  churches  were  abandoned  because  of 
internal  dissensions,  but  the  evidence  is  that  in  the  majority  of 
cases  the  abandonment  was  made  in  the  interest  of  a larger  relig- 
ious life  elsewhere. 

In  times  past  the  church  stood  preeminently  as  the  represen- 
tativeof  the  moral  and  religious  forces  of  the  community,  but  in 
modern  times  other  agencies  have  come  to  the  front  and  much  of 
this  increase  in  general  culture  is  to  be  attributed  directly  to  the 
public  schools  and  the  leavening  influence  of  means  of  commun- 
ication which  have  brought  the  country  districts  into  touch  with 
the  culture  of  the  cities.  One  illustration  will  indicate  the  demand 
for  social  life  in  the  country  and  the  opportunity  for  the  church 
to  do  a positive  social  service.  An  abandoned  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  in  Butler  County  has  been  used  for  a dance  hall  during  the 
summer  seasons.  Here  every  two  weeks  the  young  people,  and 
the  older  ones  too,  of  the  community  have  come  together.  The 
gathering  has  been  strictly  rural  and  has  been  conducted  along 
lines  that  have  merited  the  approbation  of  the  best  people  in 
the  community.  Men  who  would  hesitate  to  go  to  their  neigh- 
bor’s house  for  a visit  went  to  the  dance  hall  because  it 
was  a semi-public  place  where  they  could  meet  others  on  a 
basis  of  equality. 

The  suggestion  from  this  incident  is  that  the  country 
people  are  demanding  more  of  the  social  in  their  lives;  that  this 
social  demand  will  find  expression  in  some  way  or  other  or  the 
people  will  move  to  the  city;  that  the  church,  which  has  to  the 
present  time  contented  itself  with  the  prayer  meeting  and  the 
church  service  as  the  principal  means  of  grace, has  before  it  a golden 
opportunity  to  enter  into  the  life  of  the  community,  and  to  lead  the 
community'  to  look  upon  it  as  the  agency'  for  increasing  its  happi- 
ness in  every'  way'  that  is  conducive  to  moral,  social  and  religious 
uplift.  The  church  has  the  opportunity'  to  make  itself  the  social 
centre  of  the  community’.  If  it  does  not  embrace  this  opportunity' 
now,  the  school  will  in  time  take  the  field  and  the  church  will 
have  lost  one  of  its  greatest  opportunities  for  usefulness. 


62 


Miami  University 


A COMMUNITY  CENTER 


Abandoned  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Butler  Co.  Ohio.  Used 
as  a dance  hall. 


The  evidence  indicates  that  so  far  as  the  churches  are  con- 
cerned it  would  be  advisable  for  an  interdenominational  committee 
to  be  formed  in  the  count}'  or  district  to  go  over  the  church  situ- 
ation and  to  recommend  to  the  respective  church  conferences, 
a policy  of  reorganization  and  reconstruction.  These  policies 
should  be  agreeable  to  the  denominations  concerned  and  a cam- 
paign of  education  should  be  carried  on  among  the  people  to  show 
them  the  necessity  of  taking  hold  of  the  problem  in  a constructive 
way  in  order  to  save  the  church  as  a useful  institution  in 
country  life.  The  church,  the  school,  and  the  farmers’  organ- 
izations are  all  essential  to  the  best  life  of  the  community,  and 
conditions  should  be  made  most  favorable  for  the  thrifty  growth 
of  each  of  these  institutions. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Rural  School 

The  rural  population  generally  has  had  the  opportunity  to 
secure  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  Table  24  gives  the  total 
illiteracy  of  the  combined  rural  and  urban  populations  of  each  of 
the  four  counties — Butler,  Preble,  Darke,  and  Montgomery,  for 
the  year  1910.  The  data  as  to  rural  illiteracy  are  not  published 
separately  by  the  United  States  Census. 


TABLE  XXIV 

Illiteracy,  Persons  10  years  old  and  over,  1910 


County 

Total 

Illiterate 

Native 

White 

F'oreign 
Born  White 

1 

Negro 

Butler 

1044 

527 

347 

167 

Darke 

3465 

335 

42 

30 

Montgomery 

988 

683 

283 

22 

Preble 

407 

ii55  | 

1646 

655 

Although  in  comparison  with  the  total  population  of  the 
different  counties  these  figures  for  illiteracy  seen  unimportant,  yet 
when  one  considers  the  relatively  very  large  proportion  of  the 
illiterate  who  are  children  of  parents  born  and  raised  in  America, 
the  conclusion  must  be  that  there  are  serious  defects  in  our  edu- 
cational system.  In  each  case  except  that  of  Preble  Count}'  the 
illiterate  of  the  foreign  born  population  and  of  the  colored  race 
forms  a large  part  of  the  total. 

Intensive  study  of  school  conditions  was  made  in  Butler  county 
only,  and  in  discussing  educational  conditions  it  is  thought  best  to 
present  the  data  collected  for  this  count}'  as  typical  of  the  entire 
section.  Other  agencies  have  frequently  described  the  consoli- 
dated schools  which  are  gradually  being  introduced.  The  dis- 
cussion in  this  report  will  be  devoted  principally  to  the  sub-district 
schools  and  to  the  relation  of  secondary  education  in  the  country 
to  the  district  school  system. 

6 3 

ft  U B 5 


64 


Miami  University 


A description  of  the  school  situation  in  Butler  county  will 
require  in  part  a discussion  of  conditions  that  are  passing  away. 
Many  phases  of  material  equipment  are  representative  of  a time 
when  but  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  physical  environment  of 
the  child  and  when  the  financial  ability  of  the  districts  was  not 
sufficient  to  enable  the  patrons  of  the  school  to  furnish  the  equip- 
ment demanded  by  modern  life.  A statement  of  the  facts  as  to 
present  conditions  is  necessary  as  a basis  for  determining  whether 
the  changes  to  be  made  in  the  next  few  years  shall  be  in  the 
direction  of  following  out  present  school  policies  or  whether  the 
several  townships  shall  adopt  some  system  of  centralization  or 
consolidation  of  schools. 

According  to  the  reports  of  the  State  Commission  of  Schools 
for  the  year  ending  19  n there  were  97  elementary  and  1 high 
school  township  districts  in  the  county  and  28  elementary  and  6 
high  school  separate  districts.  The  present  investigation  covered 
93  districts  including  3 special  districts  and  1 high  school.  The 
total  number  of  schools  reporting  on  each  of  the  several  points 
included  in  the  investigation  is  noted. 

Practically  all  the  buildings  are  of  brick.  Of  90  schools 
reporting  86  were  of  brick  and  4 were  of  wood.  Most  of  the 
buildings  are  still  in  good  condition.  74  of  88  buildings  reported 
had  but  1 room,  8 had  2 rooms,  4 had  3 and  2 had  4 or  more.  85 
of  the  93  buildings  were  reported  as  having  light  from  both  sides 
of  the  building.  Of  87  schools  69  reported  heating  with  unjack- 
eted stoves,  5 with  jacketed  stoves  and  13  with  furnace.  Of  the 
13  reporting  furnaces  7 were  2 room  structures  and  5 were  1 room. 
1 school  with  furnace  did  not  report  number  of  rooms.  83 
schools  reported  non-adjustable  single  seats  and  3 reported  adjust- 
able seating.  Of  85  schools  49  reported  cloak  rooms  and  36 
reported  none. 

The  evidence  from  these  figures  is  that  the  little  red  school 
house  with  light  from  all  sides,  with  old-fashioned  seats  not  adap- 
ted to  the  student,  with  stove  that  is  too  hot  for  those  near  it  and 
too  cold  for  those  at  a distance  from  it,  is  still  the  prevailing  type 
of  building.  The  one  modern  feature  that  appears  to  have  been 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


65 


introduced  into  the  newer  buildings  is  the  cloak  room.  Over 
half  of  the  buildings  have  this  extra  equipment. 


UTILITY  VERSUS  BEAUTY 


Coal  shed  mars  an  otherwise  attractive  school  yard. 

The  outside  equipment  presents  a remarkable  uniformity. 
8i  of  the  schools  report  wells.  Practically  all  the  country 
schools  have  outside  toilets.  These  in  nearly  all  cases  are 
separate  for  the  sexes  and  in  74  out  of  80  cases  they  are  reported 
as  decently  placed.  The  difficulty  with  the  outside  toilet  in  the 
country  school  is  that  it  is  hard  to  keep  in  a sanitary  condition. 
In  a number  of  instances  the  toilets  were  not  clean  and  the  walls 
were  covered  with  obscene  writing  and  drawing.  In  at  least  one 
case  the  old  type  double  building  with  one  apartment  for  the 
boys  and  an  other  for  the  girls  still  exists.  This  is  a survival 
of  an  earlier  period  and  like  all  the  other  relics  of  a past  age, 
would  do  credit  to  the  community  if  it  were  removed.  In 
another  instance,  either  the  entrance  to  the  school  building  is  from 


66 


Miami  University 


ONE  OF  THE  BEST  COUNTRY  SCHOOLS  IN 
SOUTHWESTERN  OHIO 


Consolidated  school,  Jackson  Township,  Preble  County,  Ohio. 

the  back  yard  or  the  outbuildings  are  in  the  front  yard.  In 
either  case,  the  crudity  of  builders  at  an  earlier  period  and  their 
willingness  to  sacrifice  the  beautiful  to  the  convenient  is 
exemplified.  The  same  tendency  to  sacrifice  the  aesthetic  to 
the  useful  is  to  be  found  in  the  custom  of  placing  the  coal 
shed  in  the  front  yard  of  the  school  grounds.  In  many 
cases,  otherwise  attractive  school  grounds  have  their  beauty 
permanently  marred  by  the  coal  shed  standing  in  the  foreground. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


67 


The  data  as  to  the  size  of  the  school  grounds  are  as  follows: 
TABLE  XXV 
Size  of  School  Grounds 


Number  of  schools  having 

Number 

I Per  Cent 

Total  

88 

100.0 

Less  than  1 acre 

12 

13.6 

1 or  under  2 acres 

69 

78.4 

2 or  undi  r 3 

7 

8.0 

3 or  more 

Reported  as  having  1 acre 

0 

64  ^included  in 
69  above) 

0.0 

59  out  of  80  were  reported  as  fenced;  46  out  of  61  as  having 
good  walks;  84  as  having  trees;  only  6 were  reported  as  having 
flower  beds. 

In  general  the  grounds  are  very  satisfactory  as  to  topography 
and  natural  possibilities  for  beautification.  The  rolling  ground 
in  Butler  County  lends  itself  especially  to  the  artist’s  task.  The 
figures  as  to  the  size  of  the  grounds  indicate  that  the  average 
cpuntry  school  was  planned  under  the  influence  of  radically 
different  ideals  than  those  which  prevail  in  rural  education  at  the 
present  time.  76  out  of  88  or  over  86  per  cent,  are  reported  as 
having  one  acre  or  less  of  ground  for  the  school  building.  The 
progressive  country  school  of  the  future  which  hopes  to  utilize 
the  school  as  a practice  ground  for  teaching  the  principles  of 
agriculture  and  for  experimental  w7ork  under  the  direction  of 
the  instructor  must  provide  more  ground  for  laboratory  pur- 
poses. The  country  people  must  soon  decide  whether  it  will  be 
cheaper  to  buy  from  ten  to  forty  acres  of  ground  for  each 
district  school  or  whether  it  will  be  better  to  equip  a central 
plant  efficiently  and  abandon  the  equipment  which  found  its 
origin  in  earlier  ideals  of  education. 

The  equipment  inside  the  school  buildings  does  not  compare 
with  similar  rooms  in  the  villages  or  cities.  In  many  cases  the 
rooms  are  in  poor  repair  and  there  is  but  little  attempt  to  keep 
them  in  attractive  condition.  57  out  of  71  of  the  schools  report 
pictures  of  some  kind  on  the  walls.  These  are  generally  histori- 


68 


Miami  University 


cal,  biographical  or  representations  of  natural  scenery.  14 
schools  reported  no  decorations  of  any  kind  on  the  walls.  72  out 
of  81  report  globes,  71  out  of  80  report  maps,  76  out  of  81  report 
charts,  9 out  of  77  report  an  organ,  and  2 out  of  70  report  a 
piano. 

The  library  equipment  of  72  schools  reporting  is  as  follows: 


tabee  XXVI 


Uibrary  Equipment 


Number  of  Books 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Total  Schools 

72 

100. 0 

None  reported 

Under  50  

l8> 

28  f 

63 -9 

50  or  under  100 

1 2 

16.7 

100  or  under  150 

9 

12.5 

150  or  under  200  

2 

2.6 

200  or  over 

3 

4 3 

This  table  shows  that  the  library,  equipment  of  the  majority 
of  country  .schools  is  not  at  all  adequate  to  the  demands  of  a 
modern  system  of  education.  While  it  is  impossible  to  give  an 
accurate  statement  of  the  value  of  the  libraries,  the  estimates  of 
the  teachers  placed  the  great  majority  of  them  under  $25.00  and 
many  of  them  under  $10.00.  The  class  of  books  embrace  ency- 
clopedias, history,  biography,  fiction,  and  an  occasional  text  on 
agriculture.  A number  of  the  libraries  contain  books  intended 
specifically  as  reading  supplementary  to  the  studies. 

There  is  but  little  difference  in  the  number  of  men  and 
women  employed  in  the  township  districts  of  the  county.  In 
19 1 1 there  were  52  males  and  63  females  employed  in  the  elemen- 
tary township  schools.  Data  were  not  secured  as  to  the  grades  of  cer- 
tificates carried  by  all  the  teachers,  but  the  educational  standard  is 
indicated  by  the  proportion  of  certificates  of  the  different  grades 
granted  during  19 11  by  the  county  board  of  examiners. 


Rt^ral  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


69 


TABLE  XXVII 

Educational  Preparation  of  Teachers,  Butler  County,  1910-1911. 


Number.of  Certificates  Granted 

Males 

Females 

Total 

Per  Cent. 

Total 

70 

118 

188 

10.00 

Eor  8 years 

2 

3 

5 

2.7 

“ 5 years 

0 

0 

0 

0.0 

“ 3 years 

4 

4 

8 

4.2 

“ 2 years 

24 

35 

59 

3i-4 

“ 1 year 

40 

76 

116 

61.7 

61.7  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  certificates  were  granted 
for  1 year  and  93. 1 per  cent,  for  not  to  exceed  two  years.  The 
relatively  larger  proportion  of  lower  grade  certificates  points  to 
the  fact  that  the  teaching  force  is  made  up  largely  of  two  groups, 
i.  e.,  those  who  are  in  the  teaching  profession  only  as  a temporary 
occupation  and  those  who  have  entered  the  profession  without 
adequate  preparation  for  the  work. 

CERTIFICATES  GRANTED  TO  TEACHERS  BUTLER  Co. 

191 1 


That  the  educational  preparation  of  the  teachers  is  not  so 
low  as  is  indicated  by  the  record  of  examinations  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  out  of  71  teachers  reporting  48  had  a high  school,  nor- 
mal or  college  diploma.  In  a number  of  cases  the  teachers  were 


70 


Miami  University 


reported  as  having  been  taking  courses  in  summer  schools.  Prob- 
ably the  rapid  change  in  the  personnel  of  the  teaching  force  has 
more  to  do  with  the  low  record  made  on  examinations  than 
deficiency  in  scholastic  preparation.  High  school  courses,  how- 
ever, do  not  fit  prospective  teachers  to  pass  examinations  with 
high  marks. 

The  low  standard  of  educational  qualifications  of  the  teachers 
will  be  eliminated  in  large  part  by  the  ultimate  consolidation  of 
school  districts  and  the  centralization  of  the  financial  energy  of  the 
community  upon  a smaller  number  of  teachers  working  in  a more 
advantageous  environment. 

Another  factor  of  importance  in  the  relation  of  the  teacher  to 
the  schools  is  the  number  of  changes  from  school  to  school.  Of 
35  schools  for  which  data  were  obtained  the  record  of  changes  for 
a five  year  period  was  as  follows:  (22  cases  were  for  five  years 
including  the  engagements  for  the  year  1912-13,  13  cases  for  the 
five  years  ending  June  1912.) 


TABIvE  XXVIII 
Changes  in  Teaching  Force 


Schools  having  in  5 years 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

1 teacher 

2 

5-7 

2 teachers 

11 

31  -4 

3 teachers 

10 

28.6 

4 teachers 

9 

25-7 

5 teachers 

2 

5-7 

6 teachers ...  

1 

2 -9 

100.0 

Over  one-third  of  the  schools  have  had  four  or  more  teach- 
ers in  the  five  }Tear  period.  Sixty  per  cent,  have  had  two  or 
three  teachers  in  the  period;  while  in  only  5.7  per  cent,  of  the 
cases  did  the  teachers  remain  for  the  full  period. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  to  be  met  by  a teacher  in 
the  district  school  is  the  number  of  recitations  necessary  owing  to 
the  number  of  grades  to  be  controlled  by  one  teacher.  For  sixty- 
seven  schools  reporting  the  average  number  of  recitations  per  day 
is  twenty-eight.  The  recitation  period  rarely  exceeds  fifteen 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


7i 


minutes  and  in  many  cases  is  not  so  long  as  that.  Country 
teachers  soon  learn  to  run  three  or  four  classes  at  the  same  time 
in  order  to  get  through  with  the  day’s  work. 

The  following  table  will,  show  the  distribution  of  schools 
according  to  the  number  of  recitation  periods  per  day: 


TABLE  XXIX 
Recitation  Periods  per  Day 


Number  of  recitations 

No.  of  schools  1 
reporting 

Per  Cent. 

Total 

67 

100.0 

Under  20 

4 

6.0 

20  or  under  25 

13 

19.4 

25  or  under  30  

25 

37-3 

30  or  under  35  

15 

22.4 

35  or  under  40  ... . 

6 

8.9 

40  or  more 

4 

6.0 

The  larger  proportion  of  the  schools  have  a number  of  recita- 
tions of  twenty-five  or  under  thirty  per  day.  37.3  percent,  have 
thirty  or  more  recitations  per  day.  Four  schools  report  over  forts' 
recitations  per  day.  The  growing  curriculum  of  the  country 
school  has  had  its  complement  in  the  decreasing  length  of  the 
recitation  period  and  the  increasing  number  of  recitations.  This 
tendency  can  only  end  in  the  breakdown  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
school.  This  is  particularly  true  in  cases  when  it  is  taught  by  a 
graduate  from  a village  .school  where  the  number  of  recitation 
periods  per  day  is  much  more  limited. 

Decrease  in  population  in  the  rural  districts  has  seriously 
affected  school  attendance.  In  Butler  County  during  the  year  191 1- 
1 2 there  were  at  least  1 7 schools  which  had  an  average  attendance 
of  10  or  less.  Three  schools  had  an  average  attendance  of  five  or 
less  yet  these  teachers  received  the  regular  salary  of  $55  to  $60 
per  month  and  required  the  usual  expenditures  for  repairs  to 
building,  fuel,  etc.  Only  an  unorganized  system  of  rural  educa- 
tion such  as  exists  in  the  State  of  Ohio  would  permit  such  condi- 
tions to  continue. 

As  compared  with  other  parts  of  the  state  the  salaries  of 
country  teachers  in  Butler  County  are  above  the  average.  In  the 
last  few  years  there  has  been  a gradual  rise  in  salaries.  Ten  years 


Miami  University 


72 

ago  38  out  of  a total  of  55  teachers  reported  received  from  $45  to 
$50  per  month,  while  at  the  present  time  66  out  of  92  reporting 
receive  $55  to  $60  per  month.  The  situation  is  such,  however, 
that  a permanent  and  most  efficient  teaching  force  cannot  be 
secured  without  such  an  increase  in  salary  as  most  district  commu- 
nities would  not  feel  justified  in  paying. 

ORGANIZED  RECREATION  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY 

Y.  M.  C.  A. 


More  than  300  boys  and  girls  participated  in  play  demonstration  for 
country  school  teachers  in  Montgomery  County  under  auspices  of  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  27  new  games  taught. 


No  data  were  secured  as  to  the  number  of  teachers  who  reside 
within  the  school  district  while  the  school  is  in  session.  It  is  a 
matter  of  common  knowledge,  however,  that  in  the  vast  majority 
of  cases  the  only  point  of  contact  the  teacher  has  with  the  district 
is  during  school  hours.  The  teacher  does  practically  nothing  in 
assuming  the  leadership  of  the  community  in  the  larger  work  of 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


7v? 


social, betterment.  The  courses  of  stud}'  in  the  school  have  but 
little  direct  relation  to  the  life  of  the  community  and  as  a result 
the  parents  have  but  little  interest  in  what  is  taught  in  the  schools. 

Owing  to  recent  legislation  in  the  state  providing  for  the 
teaching  of  agriculture  in  the  public  schools  the  rural  schools  are 
now  attempting  to  teach  the  subject  from  two  to  five  periods  per 
week.  In  a few  cases,  particularly  in  Reilv  Township,  Butler 
County,  effort  has  been  made  to  introduce  vegetable  and  flower 
gardening  during  the  spring  months.  Very  little  has  been 
accomplished  throughout  the  county  generally  in  this  direction. 
There  is  practically  no  formal  instruction  in  music,  drawing, 
manual  training,  or  domestic  science  in  any  of  the  country  schools 
nnd  the  teaching  of  hygiene  in  many  cases  consists  of  formal  dis- 
cussion of  the  framework  of  the  body  with  a minimum  of  instruc- 
tion as  to  personal  hygiene,  foods,  household  sanitation,  etc. 
Evidently  the  time  has  come  for  a radical  revision  of  the  curri- 
culum of  the  country  school  and  a change  of  emphasis  upon  the 
relative  importance  of  the  material  taught. 

Schools  in  the  township  districts  of  the  county  are  in  session 
on  an  average  of  35  weeks  in  the  year. 

Pupils  still  generally  walk  to  and  from  school  although  there 
is  now  a tendency  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  parents  to  drive  to 
school  with  the  little  ones  in  extremely  bad  weather.  This  ten- 
dency has  become  more  pronounced  since  the  older  children  have 
been  transferred  to  the  high  schools. 

The  play  activities  of  the  children  and  the  relation  of  the 
teacher  to  them  are  of  importance  becau.se  of  the  emphasis  now 
being  placed  upon  play  as  an  educational  agency.  As  yet  in  the 
country  schools  little  provision  is  made  of  apparatus  for  play 
such  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  .schools  of  the  villages  or  larger 
cities.  In  45  out  of  61  cases  reporting  the  teacher  played  with 
the  children.  In  a number  of  these  the  teacher  played  very  little. 
The  standard  games  played  are  “ball,”  “blackmail,”  and  “dare- 
base.”  Thirty-one  schools  reported  “ball”  as  one  of  their  games, 
twenty-four  ‘ ‘blackmail,  ’ ’ and  fourteen  “dare-base.  ” In  numbers 
varying  from  one  to  four  each  the  following  games  are  reported 
and  are  noted  here  to  show  the  variety  of  games  that  find  an 


74 


Miami  University 


occasional  place  in  the  country  community.  “Cricket,”  “Hide 
and  Seek,”  “Flinch,”  “Drop  the  Handkerchief, ” “Blindman,” 
“Stay  in  School,”  “Football,”  “Skating,”  “Fox  and  Geese,” 
“Ten  Stop,”  “Crack  the  Whip,”  “Marble,”  “Miller  Boy,” 
“Catcher,”  “Rabbit,”  “Wolf,”  “Wood-tag,”  “Deer,”  “Blind- 
fold,” “Shinney,”  “Sixty,”  “Anthony  Over.”  No  one  school 
reported  all  of  these  but  all  are  to  be  found  in  one  school  or 
another  in  Butler  County  and  doubtless  if  an  exhaustive  study 
of  the  games  were  to  be  made  man)'  more  would  be  discovered. 
The  fact  that  the  greater  number  of  pupils  adhere  to  a few  standard 
games  indicates  that  in  general  there  is  but  little  incentive 
toward  novelty  in  play  in  the  country  community.  Children  are 
not  interested  in  learning  the  details  of  new  games  but  in  master- 
ing the  art  of  playing  the  old  ones  well.  Owing  to  changes  in 
enrollment  and  ages  of  school  children  some  of  the  games  adapted 
to  older  children  are  disappearing. 

One  phase  of  the  play  activities  of  the  county  district  that  is 
often  overlooked  should  be  noted.  This  is  the  psychical  effect 
of  organized  play  such  as  is  usually  found  in  the  country.  This 
topic  is  of  the  greater  importance  at  the  present  time  because  of 
a manifest  tendency  in  some  of  our  smaller  communities  to  imi- 
tate the  inventions  intended  to  solve  the  problem  of  play  in  the 
crowded  sections  of  the  larger  cities.  There,  in  some  small  park, 
are  to  be  found  poles  with  ropes  attached,  smooth  boards  for 
sliding,  swings,  etc.  This  equipment  is  probably  the  best  pro- 
vision for  play  in  crowded  parks.  The  unfortunate  tendency 
developing  is  to  allow  the  devices  used  in  a city’s  extremity  to 
displace  the  better  adapted  play  activities  of  the  village  and  country 
district.  The  activities  of  the  playground  should  teach  groups 
of  children  how  to  co-operate  in  an  organized  form  for  the  attain- 
ment of  a common  end.  They  should  give  opportunity  for  the 
development  of  initiative  and  leadership;  for  the  overcoming  of 
personal  weakness  in  social  intercourse;  for  the  development  of 
will  to  give  and  take.  Ball,  blackmail, dare  base  offer  this  opportu- 
nity and  are  incomparably  better  for  this  purpose  than  sliding 
down  a board  or  swinging  from  a rope.  The  country  and  village 
schools  need  more  play  space  rather  than  more  equipment.  The 


Rural  Survey  of  Southwestern  Ohio 


75 


THE  BOYS’  CROP,  MONTGOMERY 
COUNTY  Y.  M.  C.  A.  CORN 
CONTEST 


The  Y.  M.  C,  A.  prepares  the  way  for  agencies 
not  yet  organized  for  progressive  activity 
in  the  rural  community. 


76 


Miami  University 


country  school  may  be  weak  in  its  curriculum  but  it  is  strong  in 
the  naturalness  and  freedom  of  its  play  activities  in  the  recon- 
struction of  country  school  life  these  should  be  preserved. 
Changes  in  school  enrolment  have  injured  or  broken  down  some 
of  the  standard  games.  Provision  should  be  made  for  other  games 
meeting  the  same  ends  but  suited  to  smaller  groups. 

CORN  CONTEST  EXHIBIT  RURAL  SCHOOLS, 
MONTGOMERY  COUNTY 


The  social  activities  of  the  country  school  at  the  present  time 
are  very  limited.  Of  73  schools  reporting  48  reported  no  social 
activities  during  the  year,  13  reported  1,  9 reported  2,  2 reported 
3,  and  1 reported  4 entertainments. 


Rural  Survex  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


77 


TABLE  XXX 

School  Entertainments  Reported  for  1911-12,  73  Schools,  Butler  County. 


Total  Number  Reporting 

As  to  Entertainments 

73 

0 “ 

48 

4 4 4 

1 “ 

13 

4 4 4 4 

2 “ 

9 

“ ‘ ‘ 

3 

2 

4 4 4 4 

4 

1 

At  one  time  the  school  house  was  the  centre  for  many  of  the 
social  activities  of  the  community.  Now,  more  than  ever,  it  is 
limited  to  the  formal  task  of  imparting  book  knowledge  to  the 
young  people  of  the  community  and  the  oldtime  point  of  contact 
between  teacher  and  district  has  disappeared.  Those  schools 
that  report  one  or  two  entertainments  in  the  year  general^  have 
a Christmas  entertainment  and  another  entertainment  at  the  close 
of  the  year.  These  entertainments  are  almost  uniformly  well 
attended  by  the  country  people  and  indicate  an  interest  in  this 
phase  of  school  life. 

In  60  cases  the  school  house  was  definitely  reported  as  hav- 
ing been  used  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  having  the  school 
sessions  in  it.  In  one  case  the  Board  of  Education  held  a monthly 
meeting  in  the  room  and  in  another  it  was  used  as  a Sunday 
School  room. 

In  Reily  Township  under  the  leadership  of  the  township 
superintendent  there  has  been  an  effort  to  have  a monthly  gather- 
ing of  all  the  schools  of  the  township  at  the  township  high  school. 
Each  school  is  expected  to  furnish  a part  of  the  monthly  program. 
These  gatherings  have  met  with  considerable  success  in  bringing 
about  a community  spirit  among  the  people  of  the  township  and 
affording  an  opportunity  not  only  of  providing  entertainment  for 
the  people  but  also  for  the  discussion  of  school  problems  such  as 
courses  of  study,  consolidation,  the  teaching  of  agriculture,  and 
the  relation  of  the  school  to  the  farm. 


7* 


Miami  Univertity 


The  relation  of  high  schools  to  the  district  schools  of  the 
county  is  shown  by  the  following  tables: 

TABLE  XXXI 

Record  of  Attendance  in  High  Schools  of  Butler  County  from  Township 
and  Special  Districts  in  the  County,  ]9ii-i2 


Hamilton 

Middletown 

Oxford  (City) 

Oxford  ( McGuffey ) 

Monroe 

Sevenmile 

Somerville 

Reily,  Township  High  School 

Millville 

Okeana,  Morgan  Twp.  H.  S 

New  London 

Venice 

Trenton  

Wayne  Township  H.  S 

Darrtown,  Milford  Twp.  H.  S.  • 

College  Corner 


76] 
47  l 
22  { 
I9J 

24 

4 

5 

14* 

o 

14 

o 

o 

10 

14 

o 


164 


3 


252 


*Reily  Dist.  excluded. 

188,  or  74.6  per  cent,  of  all  the  pupils  in  high  school  from 
the  township  and  special  districts  not  maintaining  high  schools 
of  their  own  are  to  be  found  in  the  high  schools  of  Hamilton, 
Middletown,  Oxford,  and  Monroe.  91.2  per  cent,  of  all  the 
students  are  in  these  high  scoools  and  the  three  township  high 
schools  of  Reiley,  Morgan,  and  Wayne  Townships.  91.2  per  cent, 
of  the  country  high  school  childern  are  in  50  per  cent,  of  the 
schools. 

The  very  large  proportion  of  all  students  enrolled  in  the 
schools  of  the  three  cities  mentioned  indicates  that  the  young 
people  from  the  country  districts  prefer  the  better  equipped 
schools  and  it  also  indicates  that  the  existence  of  good  schools  is 
in  itself  a factor  in  increasing  school  attendance.  The  attendance 
at  the  different  township  high  schools  indicates  that  these  are 
doing  a good  service  for  their  respective  districts. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


79 


The  distribution  of  the  students  according  to  townships  is 
shown  in  the  following  table: 

TABLE  XXXII 


Number  of  Students  from  the  Different  Township  High  Schools 
in  Butler  County,  1911-1912. 


Hn 

College  Corner 

Hamilton 

Middletown 

Morgan  Tw’p  H.  S. 

Milford  Tw’p  H.  S. 

Monroe 

New  London 

Oxford  (City) 

Oxford  (McGuffey) 

Riley  Tw’p  H S. 

Seven  Mile 

Somerville 

Trenton 

Venice 

Wayne  Tw’p  H.  S.  j 

Totals 

I 

Total 

3 

83 

47 

14 

O 

16 

I 

26 

28 

14 

4 

5 

IO 

IO  1 

14 

275 

Fairfield .... 

27 

27 

Hanover. . . . 

17 

17 

Lemon 

30 

4 

34 

Liberty 

4 

IO 

14 

Madison .... 

17 

9 

26 

Milford 

3 

5 

2 

4 

14 

Morgan 

14 

14 

Oxford 

3 

17 

13 

33 

Reily 

5 

14 

19 

Ross 

3 

3 

St.  Clair .... 

17 

17 

Union* 

0 

Wayne 

5 

4 

1 

14 

24 

Outside 

■ 1 

county. . . . 

7 

2 

I 

5 

1 

IO 

26 

From  other 

states 

- 

4 

3 

1 

! 

7 

*Union  Township  reports  11  students  attending  Dockland,  Hamilton 
County,  High  School.  Union  Township  has  among  the  best  equipped  dis- 
trict schools  in  the  county.  A comparison  of  total  students  in  high  schools 
from  the  township  with  other  townships  indicates  the  need  of  provision  of 
high  school  facilities  there. 

The  evidence  is  that  proximity  to  a good  high  school  has  a 
very  definite  and  a very  important  relation  to  high  school  atten- 
dance. Oxford  Township  has  two  high  schools  located  within  its 
limits. 

One  characteristic  of  the  present  high  school  training  in 
relation  to  the  country  districts  is  that  it  becomes  a means  of  tran- 
sition for  young  people  from  country  to  urban  life.  The  testimony 

HUB# 


8o 


Miami  University 


of  high  school  principals  is  that  rarely  does  the  high  school  girl 
expect  to  become  a farmer’s  wife  or  the  high  school  boy  expect 
to  return  to  the  country.  On  the  other  hand  there  are  a number 
of  boys  in  the  villages  and  cities  who  are  looking  forward  to  farm 
life.  This  indicates  that  our  high  schools  should  have  a wide 
enough  vocational  basis  to  facilitate  the  movement  of  students  in 
either  direction.  This  type  of  school  will  come  nearer  serving 
the  people  than  will  the  high  school  for  farmers  and  the  high 
school  for  the  townsman.  Such  a scheme  in  the  educational  sys- 
tem would  tend  to  develop  a farming  class  and  a town  class.  Such 
a training  should  be  provided  as  will  permit  the  young  people 
the  fullest  freedom  in  their  choice  of  means  of  earning  a liveli- 
hood so  that  class  distinctions  will  not  be  encouraged. 

In  the  conclusion  of  the  study  of  the  schools  in  Butler  County 
reference  to  particularly  bad  and  good  conditions  will  make  more 
real  the  changes  going  on.  The  bad  conditions  are  mentioned 
only  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  in  an  extremely  individualistic 
educational  system  such  as  exists  in  the  state  of  Ohio  evils  may 
develop  and  persist  that  under  the  direction  of  a competent  town- 
ship or  county  superintendent  would  not  be  permitted. 

While  a number  of  the  individual  teachers  in  the  several  town- 
ships have  been  making  progress  in  their  own  schools,  three  of 
the  townships,  i.  e.,  Reily,  Morgan,  and  Union,  deserve  special 
mention  because  of  the  organized  efforts  they  are  putting  forth 
for  the  improvement  of  the  rural  schools.  Union  Towmship  is 
mentioned  especially  for  its  advance  in  the  material  improvement 
of  the  rural  schools  of  district  type.  The  newer  school  buildings 
are  equipped  with  furnaces  and  are  erected  according  to  the  latest 
models  of  school  architecture.  It  is  possible  that  the  expendi- 
ture of  funds  on  expensive  single  buildings  may  ultimately  act  as 
a hindrance  to  real  progress  in  the  direction  of  consolidation  of 
the  schools  of  the  towmship. 

Morgan  Township  has  a township  superintendent,  wrho  is  also 
principal  of  the  township  high  school.  He  endeavors  to  cor- 
relate the  wrnrk  of  the  teachers  of  the  entire  township.  Once  a 
month  the  teachers  gather  at  the  high  school  to  discuss  questions 
related  to  their  work.  The  township  has  a large  library  at  the 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio  8i 

high  school  and  the  books  from  this  library  are  lent  to  the 
local  schools  for  a certain  length  of  time  and  then  passed  on  to 
some  other  school.  The  books  are  selected  by  the  teachers,  partly 
in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  of  the  State  Commissioner  of 
Kducation. 

Reily  Township  has  succeeded  under  township  superintend- 
ency in  providing  a uniform  course  of  study,  in  raising  the  stan- 
dards of  efficiency  among  teachers,  in  arousing  interest  in  town- 
ship school  exhibits,  contests,  and  literary  entertainments,  and  in 
getting  results  in  the  teaching  of  agriculture.  The  results  of  the 
supervisory  system  in  these  townships  indicate  that  it  is  an 
improvement  over  the  unregulated  district  system.  As  an  inter- 
mediate stage  between  the  district  school  and  the  centralized  school 
or  as  a permanent  institution  where  centralization  is  impractica- 
ble, supervision  is  undoubtedly  desirable. 

The  results  of  this  survey  of  the  conditions  in  the  country 
schools  of  Butler  County  suggest  the  need  of  a definite  construc- 
tive program.  Among  the  points  to  be  considered  are: 

1.  The  appointment  of  either  a county  superintendent  of 
schools  or  of  district  supervisors  who  can  co-ordinate  educational 
interests. 

2.  Reorganization  of  schools  which  will  result  in: 

a.  Curriculum  adapted  to  country 

b.  Better  physical  equipment 

c.  Better  library  facilities 

d.  More  permanent  teaching  force 

e.  Better  prepared  teaching  force 

3.  Formation  of  educational  districts  that  will  conform  to 
convenience  of  the  people  rather  than  to  traditional  political  divid- 
ing lines. 

4.  Provision  of  adequate  and  convenient  secondary  educa- 
tion for  every  district  pupil  in  the  county. 

5.  Ultimate  centralization  of  schools. 

This  work  cannot  be  done  unless  some  unifying  and  co-ordi- 
nating agency  is  created. 

The  country  school  teacher  has  a very  responsible  part  in  the 
program  of  rural  social  reorganization.  The  progress  of  the 
country  will  depend  very  much  upon  the  efficiency  with  which 
that  work  is  done. 


CHAPTER  VI 


Tenantry  in  Southwestern  Ohio 

The  problem  of  increase  in  tenantry  is  one  of  vital  importance 
to  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state.  According  to  the  census 
returns  of  1910  the  ten  counties  in  the  state  which  had  over  40 
per  cent,  of  their  farms  operated  by  tenants  were  in  this  section. 

Table  33  shows  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the 
amount  of  tenantry  in  these  counties  since  1900: 


TABDE  XXXIII 

Per  cent,  farms  operated  by  tenants  in  Counties 


County 

1910 

1900 

Increase 

or 

Decrease 

Butler  

41 .0 

42.5 

— 1 5 

Darke 

46.8 

39-5 

+7  • 3 

Madison 

46.8 

47-8 

— 1 0 

Miami 

51-7 

46.8 

+4-9 

Montgomery 

42.3 

42.4 

— 0. 1 

Pickaway  

43-9 

43  4 

+0.5 

Preble 

44  8 

37-i 

+7-7 

Warren 

43-i 

41 .0 

+2.  r 

Champaign 

40  6 

37-7 

42.9 

Favette 

40.2 

38.6 

4-1-6 

The  evidence  is  that  tenantry  is  on  the  increase  in  the  more 
productive  areas  of  diversified  agriculture  and  that  in  the  sections 
where  truck  gardening  or  specialized  farming  is  in  vogue  the 
change  from  ownership  operation  to  tenant  operation  is  not  so 
marked. 

In  the  study  of  the  social  effects  of  this  transition  from  owner- 
ship to  tenantry,  a house  to  house  investigation  was  made  in  Oxford 
Township,  Butler  County,  and  in  Jackson  and  Twin  Townships, 
Preble  County. 


82 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio  S3 

Table  34  shows  the  comparative  age  of  owners  and  tenants  in 
the  three  townships  studied: 

TABLE  XXXIV 

Comparative  Ages — Owners  and  Tenants 


Township 

Number 

Owners 

considered 

Average 

Age 

Number 

Tenants 

considered 

Average 

Age 

Total 

288 

54-3 

219 

38  9 

Oxford,  Butler  County 

83 

61.4 

43 

39-o 

Jackson,  Preble  County. . . 

124 

51.6 

116 

37-7 

Twin,  Preble  County 

81 

51-2 

60 

41.0 

The  average  age  of  the  owners  is  over  15  years  greater  than 
that  of  the  tenants.  The  fact  that  the  average  age  of  the  tenants  is 
near  40  also  indicates  that  the  coming  year  will  find  fewer  of  these 
men  passing  into  the  owner  class  and  that,  contrary  to  the  con- 
clusions of  some  of  the  writers  on  these  topics,  tenantry  is  becom- 
ing a permanent  phase  of  American  agriculture.  Moreover  the 
high  average  age  of  the  owners  is  evidence  that  comparatively 
few  young  men  are  becoming  owners.  Oxford  Township,  Butler 
Count}",  is  especially  noticeable  in  its  average  age  of  61.  4 years 
for  farmers  operating  their  own  farms. 

The  result  of  the  United  States  Census  for  Butler  County  for 
1910  shows  the  tendency  as  to  age  of  owners  and  tenants. 


TABLE  XXXV 

Farmers  Classified  according  to  Tenure  and  Age  Groups,  Butler  County 


Years 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Total 

. 

Owners 

Tenants 

Total 

Owners 

T e nants 

All  ages 

2288 

1220 

1068 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

24  and  under. . 

61 

1 1 

50 

2.7 

•9 

4-7 

25  to  34 

402 

85 

317 

17.6 

7.0 

29.7 

35  to  44 

576 

251 

325 

25.1 

20.6 

3° -4 

45  to  54 

603 

363 

240 

26  3 

29  8 

22.5 

55  to  64 

383 

282 

101 

16.8 

23.1 

9*5 

65  and  over. . . 

256 

223 

33 

11 .2 

18.2 

3-o 

Unknown 

7 

5 

2 

0.3 

0.4 

0.2 

This  table  does  not  include  272  part  owners  nor  46  man- 
agers. It  should  be  noted  that  71. 1 per  cent,  of  the  owners  are 
forty-five  years  of  age  or  older,  while  but  35  per  cent,  of  the 
tenants  belong  to  this  group. 


84 


Miami  University 


Tables  36  and  37  show  the  relative  permanency  of  occupancy 
of  farms,  by  owners  and  tenants. 


TABLE  XXXVI 


Term  of  Occupancy — Present  Farm 


Township 

Number 

Owners 

Considered 

Average 

Number 

Years 

Tenants 

Number 

Considered 

Average 

Number 

Years 

Total  

2«6 

14.89 

210 

4-49 

Oxford 

80 

12.4 

39 

3-i 

Twin 

127 

14.9 

116 

5-i 

Jackson 

79 

17.4 

55 

4.4 

TABLE  XXXVII 

Number  Having  Occupied  Farms  Specified  Number  of  Years 


Number  Years 

Owners 

Tenants 

Number  1 
Considered 

s s?l 

r * 1 

Number 

Considered 

Per 

Cent. 

Total 

273 

100.0 

206 

100.0 

1 st 

25 

91 

69 

33-5 

2nd 

18 

6.6 

3i 

15.  r 

3-5 

54 

19.8 

58 

28.2 

6-10 

43 

15.8 

25 

12. 1 

11  or  more 

133 

48.7 

23 

11 . 1 

The  average  number  of  years  the  farms  have  been  occupied  by 
owners  as  shown  in  table  36  is  14.89.  It  should  be  noted  in  table  37 
that  33.5  percent,  of  the  tenants  were  on  the  farms  occupied  for  the 
first  year,  and  that  nearly  half  were  on  their  farms  for  not  more 
than  the  second  year.  51  per  cent,  had  been  on  the  farm  for  3 
or  more  years. 

The  data  as  to  term  of  occupancy  of  farm  operators  in  Butler 
County  reported  by  the  United  States  Census  Bureau  give  a 
somewhat  higher  average  term. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


85 


WHAT  EFFECT  WILL  THE  TRANSIENT  FARMER 
HAVE  ON  THE  FARM? 


TABLE  XXXVIII 

Term  of  Occupancy  of  Farm  Operators,  Butler  County,  1910 


Tenure 

1 No.  Reporting 

Average  No. 

Years 

Total 

2487 

9.0 

Owners  free  

780 

15-5 

Owners  mortgaged 

354 

7-8 

Part  owners 

262 

10. 1 

Cash  tenant 

194 

4-8 

Unknown  tenant 

9 

6.7 

Share  tenant 

768 

4-5 

Share  cash  tenant 

77 

5-2 

Managers 

43 

3-i 

The  shifting  from  farm  to  farm  by  tenants  shown  in  table  37 
does  not  necessarily  mean  a shifting  from  community  to  commu- 
nity. Table  39  shows  that  while  there  is  greater  shifting  from 
community  to  community  among  tenants  the  majority  of  them 
remain  in  the  same  community. 


table  XXXIX 

Number  of  Years  Lived  in  Present  Community 


Township 

Number  | 
Owners 
Considered 

Average 

Number 

Years 

Number 

Tenants 

Considered 

Average 

Number 

Years 

Total 

253 

33-7 

190 

20.58 

Oxford 

69 

31.8 

36 

23-3 

Twin 

109 

35-o 

98 

23-3 

Jackson 

75 

35-o 

5b 

14. 1 

86 


Miami  University 


TABLE  XL 

Number  Having  Lived  in  Community  Specified  N umber  of  Years 


Number  Years 

Owners 

Tenants 

Number 

Owners 

Considered 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Tenants 

Considered 

Per  Cent. 

I 

Total 

255 

100.0 

183 

100  0 

1st 

9 

3-5 

20 

10.9 

2nd 

4 

i-5 

12 

6-5 

3-5 

18 

7-i 

23 

12.6 

6-10 

18 

7-i 

19 

10.4 

ri  or  more j 

206 

80.0 

109 

59-6 

The  average  number  of  years  in  the  community  for  owners 
is  33.7  and  for  tenants  is  20.58.  80.8  per  cent,  of  the  owners  and 
59.6  per  cent,  of  the  tenants  have  been  in  the  communities  in 
which  they  now  live  for  eleven  or  more  years.  The  problem  of 
socialization  then  is  not  one  of  assimilating  new  individuals  or 
groups  but  of  properly  utilizing  the  social  interests  already  at 
hand. 

Table  41  gives  the  data  as  to  comparative  size  of  farms  opera- 
ted by  owners  and  tenants. 


TABLE  XLI 

Size  of  Farms  Operated  by  Owners  and  Tenants 


Township 

Owners 

Tenants 

Number 

Considered 

Average 
Size  Farms 
(Acres) 

Number 

Considered 

Average 
Size  Farms 
(Acres) 

Total 

286 

87.4 

212 

101 .4 

Oxford 

93 

78.4 

4i 

99.0 

Twin 

108 

82.5 

115 

92.9 

Jackson  

85 

103.7 

56 

I2r  .0 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  average  size  of  the  tenant  farm 
is  10 1. 4 acres  while  that  of  the  farms  operated  by  the  owners  is 
87.4  acres.  Jackson  township  in  Preble  County  has  an  unusually 
large  number  of  farms  above  the  average  in  size. 

The  data  for  all  owners  and  tenants  of  Butler  County  as 
reported  by  the  United  States  Census  Bureau  show  that  the 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


37 


tendencies  in  the  three  townships  mentioned  above  are  general 
throughout  the  section. 


TABLE  XLII 


Farms  Classified  by  Tenure  of  Farmer  and  by  Size  of  Farm,  Butler  County. 


Size  of  Farm  1 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Acres 

Total  J 

Owners 

Tenants 

Total 

Owners 

Tenants 

Total  farms . . 

2288 

1220 

1068 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

19  and  under. 

291 

212 

79 

12.8 

17-4 

7-4 

20  to  49 

275 

188 

87 

12.0 

15.5 

8.2 

50  to  99  

572 

359 

213 

25.0 

29.4 

20.0 

100  to  174 

832 

358 

474 

36.4 

29.4 

44-4 

175  to  499  ..  . 

316 

IOI 

215 

13.8 

8-3 

20.0 

500  to  999  ..  . 
1000  acres  and 

2 

2 

0 

0.0 

0.0 

0.0 

over 

0 

0 

0 

0.0 

0.0 

0.0 

This  table  does  not  include  272  part  owners  or  46  managers 
in  the  county.  It  should  be  noted  that  62.30!  the  owners’  farms 
are  under  100  acres  in  size  while  64.4  of  the  tenants’  farms  are 
over  100  acres  in  size.  The  great  proportion  of  both  owners’  and 
tenants’  farms  are  between  50  and  174  acres. 

That  the  church  still  remains  the  prime  factor  in  the  social 
life  of  the  community  is  indicated  by  table  43. 


TABLE  XLIH 


Membership  in  Church  and  Lodge  Compared 


Types  of  Membership 

Owneis 

Tenants 

Total 

No. 

Per  cent. 

No. 

Per  cent. 

No. 

Per  cent. 

Total 

193 

100.0 

136 

100.0 

329 

100.0 

Belonging  both  to  church 
and  to  lodge  or  club ... . 

52 

26.9 

30 

22. 1 

82 

24.9 

Belonging  to  lodge  or  club 
but  not  to  church 

L5 

7.8 

21 

15-4 

36 

10.9 

Belonging  to  church  but 
not  to  lodge  or  club .... 

126 

65-3 

85 

62.5 

211 

64.2 

This  table  shows  that  a comparatively  small  number  of  either 


tenants  or  owners  who  belong  to  organizations  of  any  kind  belong 
to  lodge  or  club  alone.  Less  than  25  per  cent,  belong  both  to 


88 


Miami  University 


SHALL  THE  CHURCH  BECOME  AN  OWNERS’ 
INSTITUTION? 


FARM  OPERATORS  CHURCH  MEMBERS 
TENANTS  41%  TENANTS  ZZ% 

□ FARM  OWNERS 
mm  TENANTS 


church  and  lodge  or  club,  while  a total  of  64.2  percent,  belong  to 
church  but  do  not  belong  to  lodge  or  club.  These  percentages 
apply  only  to  those  who  are  reported  as  having  affiliations  with 
organizations  of  some  kind  or  other  and  do  not  apply  to  the 
total  number  of  persons  concerning  whom  data  were  obtained. 
The  figures  show  that  a large  proportion  of  owners  belong  to 
both  lodge  and  church  and  that  the  large  proportion  of  those 
belonging  to  lodge  but  not  to  church  is  to  be  found  among  the 
tenants.  The  percentage  of  those  of  both  groups  belonging  to 
church  but  not  to  lodge  is  about  the  same. 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


89 


Tables  44  and  45  give  the  comparative  data  as  to  the  periodical 
literature  taken  by  owners  and  tenants. 


TABLE  XLIV 

Number  of  Periodicals  Reported,  Owners’  and  Tenants’  Families 


Number  taking 

Owners 

Tenants 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Total 

271 

100.0 

193 

100.0 

1 paper  only 

43 

15  9 

50 

25-9 

2 papers  

59 

21.8 

57 

29-5 

3-5  papers 

119 

43-9 

7i 

36.8 

6 or  more 

50 

18.4 

15 

'7.8 

43.9  per  cent,  of  the  owners  take  from  3 to  5 papers  while 
but  36  per  cent,  of  the  tenants  take  this  number.  62  per  cent, 
of  the  owners  take  3 or  more  papers  while  but  43  per  cent,  of 
the  tenants  take  this  number.  24.9  per  cent,  of  the  tenants  take 
but  one  paper  as  against  15.9  per  cent,  of  the  owners. 

The  data  as  to  the  kinds  of  papers  taken  throw  light  on  the 
amount  and  quantity  of  periodical  reading  matter  available  to  the 
farmer’s  family. 


TABLE  XLV 

Kinds  of  Papers  Taken,  Owners  and  Tenants 


Kind  of  Papers  Taken 

Owners 

(273  Considered) 

Tenants 

(203  Considered) 

N umber 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Agriculture 

158 

57-9 

87 

42.8 

Religious 

36 

13.2 

10 

4-9 

News 

259 

94-9 

182 

89.7 

Women’s  Magazines.. 

74 

27.1 

44 

21 . 7 

Cheap  Advertising .... 

39 

14-3 

24 

11. 8 

Standard  Magazines.. 

37 

13.6 

9 

4.4 

The  owners  report  94.9  per  cent,  taking  a newspaper  while 
the  tenants  report  89.7.  Neither  group  is  conspicuous  for  the 
number  of  religious  papers  taken  or  for  the  number  of  standard 
magazines.  The  owning  group  report  57.9  per  cent,  taking 
agricultural  periodicals  while  the  tenant  group  report  but  42.8  per 
cent.  Women’s  magazines  are  reported  as  27.1  per  cent  for  the 
owners  and  21.7  per  cent,  for  the  tenants. 


90 


Miami  University 


The  two  groups  do  not  differ  materially  in  the  number  of 
telephones  used.  Of  275  owners  reporting  190  or  69.1  ' per  cent, 
have  telephones  and  of  212  tenants  128  or  60  per  cent,  report, 
telephones. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  that  the  problems  of  tenantry 
affect  the  social  life  of  the  country  community  in  the  lower  stan- 
dards of  social  responsibility  of  the  renting  class;  in  the  lower 
standards  of  education  as  shown  by  the  small  number  of  agricultural 
and  other  periodicals  taken ; in  the  decreasing  permanency  of  occu- 
pation of  the  farm  by  the  operator;  and  the  threatened  depletion 
of  the  soil  through  introduction  of  means  of  production  which 
will  yield  the  largest  immediate  returns  at  the  expense  of  the  farm ; 
and  finally  in  the  outlook  for  a permanent  tenant  class.  This 
tendency  towards  a permanent  tenantry  is  just  now  working  out 
its  economic  and  social  influences  and  the  lines  of  cleavage  that  may 
result  have  not  as  yet  clearly  defined  themselves.  The  tendency 
seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  relative  interest  in  the  church  and 
in  the  lodge  by  owners  and  tenants,  and  it  may  be  that  in  time 
the  renter  and  owner  distinction  will  pervade  the  entire  life  of 
the  country  community. 


CHAPTER  VII 
Summary  and  Conclusion 

A survey  of  the  results  of  the  study  of  rural  life  in  south- 
western Ohio  indicates  that  the  following  are  among  the  principal 
problems  awaiting  solution  at  the  present  time: 

1 Declining  membership  of  the  rural  church.  This  decline  in 

some  cases  is  an  evidence  of  absolute  decrease  of  religious 
influence.  In  others  it  is  an  accompaniment  of  the  decrease 
of  rural  population  and  consequently  brings  with  it  problems 
of  church  finance  which  in  some  communities  tend  to  become 
serious. 

2 Smaller  proportion  of  young  people  belonging  to  church. 

The  proportion  of  church  membership  according  to  age 
appears  to  be  lowest  in  that  period  when  church  affiliation 
should  normally  be  the  greatest. 

3 Non-resident  ministry.  With  the  increasing  emphasis  upon 

the  pastoral  function  of  the  minister  non-residence  becomes 
a serious  handicap.  When  public  ’worship  occupied  a 
larger  place  in  church  life  non-residence  was  not  recog- 
nized as  an  influence  limiting  the  minister’s  usefulness. 

4 Survival  of  sectarianism  resulting  in  over-churching  in  main- 

communities. 

5 Lack  of  organized  rural  recreation.  Influence  of  commercial- 

ized village  and  city  amusement. 

6 Declining  influence  of  secret  organizations. 

7 Inadequate  rural  school  equipment. 

8 Transient  and  non-resident  teaching  force. 

9 Lack  of  correlation  of  school  with  life  of  people. 

10.  In  some  places  tendency  to  break  up  homogeneity  of  rural 

population  through  growth  of  tenantry,  increase  of  foreign 
population,  and  change  in  type  of  farm  labor. 

11.  Persistence  of  traditional  methods  of  farm  management. 

The  recognition  of  a problem  is  the  first  step  towards  its 
solution  and  already  measures  are  being  taken  in  southwestern 
Ohio  to  deal  in  a constructive  way  with  existing  conditions.  Some 
of  the  tendencies  which  indicate  that  rural  life  has  already  passed 
the  low  ebb  and  is  moving  toward  a much  higher  plane  are: 


91 


92 


Miami  University 


1 Gradual  rise  in  rural  economic  welfare.  This  appears  to  be 

due  to  industrial  changes  affecting  the  entire  population 
rather  than  to  any  rapid  increase  in  efficiency  in  farming 
methods. 

2 Gradual  increase  in  rural  culture,  through  influence  of  news- 

papers, means  of  transportation  and  communication, 
farmers’  institutes,  educational  institutions  and  religious 
organizations. 

3 Increasing  interest  in  problems  of  rural  life. 

4 Increasing  interest  in  co-operative  enterprises. 

In  conclusion  the  following  suggestions  may  be  made  as  to 
changes  to  be  brought  about  in  rural  life. 

1 Re-organization  of  the  church  on  a community  basis,  prefer- 

ably in  connection,  however,  with  one  of  the  national  reli- 
gious bodies  instead  of  the  “union”  plan;  abandonment  of 
sectarianism;  provision  for  resident  pastors,  preferably  of 
‘ ‘town-country’  ’ churches. 

2 Re-organization  of  rural  school  to  provide  for  proper  correla 

lion  of  school  with  life  of  people;  adequate  material  equip- 
ment and  permanent  teaching  force;  and  convenient  and 
efficient  secondary  as  well  as.  primary  education. 

3 Encouragement  of  farmers’  organizations  for  protection  and 

advancement  of  farmers’  interest  and  for  the  discussion  of 
community  problems. 

4 Development  of  pride  in  rural  life  and  rural  institutions. 

5 Establishment  of  adequate  facilities  for  bringing  to  the  farmer 

the  work  of  federal  and  state  departments  of  agriculture, 
experiment  station  and  educational  institutions. 

6 Provision  for  social  and  recreational  life  of  the  rural  com- 

munity. 

7 Further  development  of  co-operative  activity7. 

Other  problems  exist  in  the  different  communities,  but  these 
must  be  worked  out  by  the  people  within  the  community’  and  must 
be  solved  in  a constructive  way7  by7  developing  co-operation 
along  lines  that  affect  the  life  of  the  community  at  large.  The 
first  step  in  making  improvements  is  the  determination  of  con- 
ditions as  they’  exist.  The  relation  of  the  institutions  to  each 
other  should  be  determined ; the  service  performed  by’  each;  serv- 
ices which  are  being  duplicated  by’  different  agencies  less  efficiently’ 
than  if  they7  were  performed  by’  one;  needs  of  the  community’  that 
are  not  being  met  by’  any’  agency’;  standards  of  community  life 
that  are  good  and  standards  that  should  be  readjusted  to  meet 


Rural  Survey  in  Southwestern  Ohio 


93 


modern  conditions.  All  these  things  should  be  known  by  the 
people  who  are  most  interested  in  the  community  and  should 
be  dealt  with  in  a constructive  way  because  the  readjustment 
which  comes  as  a result  of  knowledge  will  bring  increased 
happiness  to  the  community.  The  discussion  in  the  fore- 
going pages  has  covered  in  a general  way  certain  areas  of  south- 
western Ohio  but  it  cannot  be  taken  for  a substitute  for  intensive 
study  of  community  life  by  each  of  the  communities  concerned. 
With  the  fullest  co-operation  of  religious,  educational  and  agri- 
cultural agencies  rural  life  may  be  brought  to  the  highest  stan- 
dards and  farm  life  will  again  assume  that  place  in  the  respect  of 
the  people  that  it  once  held. 


